CN Warhammer40k: Halo's Dawn
by Evident Disaster
Summary: Cancelled, Another story will be taking this one's place
1. Chapter 1

Warhammer40k: Halo's Dawn

The year is 2525 the beginning of the end, mankind now steps into the bowls of hell as it challenges an enemy greater than itself, malevolent and destructive, zealous and homicidal, it was the covenant, the race bent of following a lie, and one that it would later discover…

Man engages in an endless war, not for the glory or for god, but for mere survival, as the darkest days approach from the waning light, but as darkness approaches, there is still hope.

On the reaches of the Nova Stratus region, far in the west of the known space of the UNSC, the UCA, the United Colonial Alliance holds strong. Their race came to be there since the 23rd century during the great colonisation effort, and by a slip-space accident they ended in the furthest reaches of space. In the years that followed the people have changed since.

The years of civil colony wars, and then to the unification wars, and finally there was peace, the UCA was formed and the region pacified. And in time great innovation followed, and prosperity, the Acer foundation set the creation of advanced slip-space technologies. The Nova foundation began genetic augmentation and adaptations, for worlds harsher for humans to survive upon.

There were the Arcturus shipyards which produced some of the best quality vessels using a unique construction complex on Anomia's only moon, Yuna, where the fleet produces most of its advanced technologies and vessels.

The Valence order of Souls, the Fenris religion, the clans of the race of humans who became changed and gained unique animalistic qualities, they roam as planet watchers and healers, and those in need of guidance in spirituality.

There were many changes and advances that the UCA had long since surpassed the UNSC, but only to that extent, in secret, there was more to the tale of the UCA.

XXXXX

The UCAF had come into contact, only the following years of the Unification War, with the UNSC, or more definite answer would be the ONI, Office of Naval Intelligence, the UCAF was willing to cut a treaty, however the ONI was on other terms.

Agreeing to begin a specialist organisation in Nova Stratus, far from the reaches of those who might try and find out what, the UCA agreed to aiding them create a special force. Project Alpha came into existence, the UCAF willing to aid in creating a special force of troops to aid in controlling the more eccentric colonies on the verge of rebellion.

ONI left a special task group to aid the UCAF scientists and begin with one stage, the creation of their most needed element, a person named Halsey. Using a special cloning procedure developed by the UCAF, the ONI operatives created a sentient clone with all memories and no chance of degradation.

The Clone was known as Valerie Haley…

XXXXX

It was not until another 10 years later that Valerie, being raised by a volunteer father, became old enough to know the truth of her birth as her father died. She was given a choice by the UCAF and ONI, if she wanted to continue her father's work, she agreed.

Another few years passed and Valerie located her special candidates, 700 known Spartan Alpha Units were checked and she was ready to begin the first stage. She waited until the UCAF had brought all the known children into custody and began the first program.

Over the month the Spartan Alpha was joined by the others, the Test program units: Rey. The unit was specially cloned from one Spartan unit that was later added into the list of known Spartans, Rey was cloned over 100 times, the first batch of 50 being needed for testing.

After the initial tests and first order of gene augmentations were completed, there were over 675 that remained; it would be another 9 months until the next augmentation, and it would be another 6 years until all the augmentations were completed.

The most prominent units of the Alpha Spartans were:

Himitsuki-0118: a born leader, brave, courageous, and calm, he was a figure of authority amongst his brethren and knew exactly what to say, he was also a caring soldier, and only remained cold to be more direct to his command.

Ikage-0119: the second in command of the Vindicators, and the biological brother to Himitsuki. Ikage was trained alongside Himitsuki, almost identical in many ways, however, Ikage was younger and far more brash to taking action, but still had an aura of calm in his time of need.

Karl-0220: the leader of the first spearhead, he was the utmost high wired soldier that the Spartans had ever seen, but only to the extent that he was only joking. Karl is the most lax of all Spartans, and has been seen to be the most social and humorous, exception of Jordan and Michal.

Michelle-0349: Michelle was a hard trained girl and she always sought to improve her skills in the field, knowledge was a natural gift, however, being young as she was, she had a brilliant air of thought, a tactician. She began to perfect these tactics and employ them in all given CTF games.

Tobias-0343: Tobias was by far the most interesting of all Spartans; he was declared the smartest, or by far the luckiest Spartan to have ever been scouted. He had flair of intelligence and it was mostly within tactics, he managed to defeat all of his opponents, by himself in a forest, using most of the natural terrain and timid planning.

Haley herself wondered how the boy manages to pull off such things, but decided to simply admire the boy's work.

Katrina-0990: Katrina was one of the best snipers in the program, she had been selected because of this and, 'I cannot see how she did it, but she managed to pick out a stone at an angle, then time the shot, to which only struck one bird in the eye, but on later examination, she had struck another on a rebound near the ridge…', Katrina was by far the sharpest shooter.

Each Spartan present will be just the focus for now; there are plenty of others, though they will make their presence known.

XXXXX

It was not until the first mission; the final test began that the UCAF would be in the greatest need of the Spartan Alpha, as it was only 7 days before the ONI began the Spartan II program that would begin the end.

2525

The process ended only 1 day after the Spartan II program began their tests, the Spartan Alpha were aware of the effects of their final treatment and it was a pain to remember, for a very long time. The 450 Spartan Alphas were regrouped and treated, but there were over 75 others still in recovery since the final test.

It was this day, this very day, the colonies of Harvest and Prodigal went silent.

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2529

On the third planet of the now dead system of Krugis there was heavy fighting, on the vaguely green world, which was now pockmarked, the fleets of the UCAF 9th and the Covenant search fleet of Trepidation. The fleets were currently engaged in heavy exchanges as the 9th unloaded their MACs into the opposing fleet.

The bulbous and almost organic like vessels, opaque in colour yet almost living, the ships charged their plasma torpedoes and pulse lasers. The bright red beams searing the energised plating of a Haldane class destroyer, the vessel responded with ASMs and HEATs, the sheer scale of missiles shattering the shields and buckling sections of armour.

But it wasn't enough as the 2.4 kilometre covenant destroyer responded, the plasma torpedoes making contact with the mid-level bow, the entire section was vaporised by the combined effects, but the UCAF ship still refused to die.

As it went in for a killing blow, the covenant vessel was suddenly struck, the ship's crew scanned for the other attacker. On the starboard side of the vessel, the large figure of a Mythic class super assault cruiser, the 7.5 kilometre super ship was made by the Arcturus shipyards as the war started, the new Mythic pounded the destroyer with its quad MACs.

The covenant ship barely managed to charge its weapons before the shots tore the entire vessel into oblivion; the crew of the Haldane cheered and watched as their saviours came to rescue them. The 9th fleet had been stretched across the system in an unceremonious pattern; many troops were still planet side, fighting hard.

On board the large super cruiser named 'Dawn of Days', the crew relaxed for a moment, they began a quick review of all systems and statuses for the captain. And the captain of the crew and vessel simply looked out, he was entranced, even in battle, he managed to command while being overwhelmed by the sights.

He knew what to do next, thinking about the remaining poor Marauders on Krugis, the child soldiers of the slaughtered populace, and the remaining trained ODST and ADST and marines. There was too much blood spilled on that world as it was, even if they saved the millions on that world, still millions had died.

He shoved the thought out of his head and concentrated on his next task, he looked about, his amber eyes sweeping to the command console, his black hair staying as still as ever, and his figure as young.

Captain James Vance called to the console.

"Melissa, how are the troops doing?" He asked.

A young Pilipino woman, with long hair and long jumper materialised, her figure attractive, yet serious.

"Reports are not good, the remainder of the covenant in sectors 12-56 have been routed, but there were over twice the casualties on our side, many wounded, but the objective has been completed. I have received orders from command, and…"

I already knew what she was going to say. "…and command has issued a hold the line stance, the covenant are still nearby, we have to keep protecting the remainder of the planet until sufficient forces can retake the system. But they assume that if worse comes to worse, use the N1." She expressed sombrely.

"So, it's come to that, I damn knew it would, call the marauders, tell them to hold in all heavily covered regions and hold, the remnants of the covenant aren't going to attack, they're waiting for their own reinforcements. All troops are to group at defensive formations in the remains of capitals."

James ordered.

"Sir yes sir, contacting the Major."

XXXXX

On Krugis itself the remains of a handful of companies of the 11th and the 12th colonial defenders regiment, they gathered there to bury the dead and tend the wounded. In and amongst them, the colours of their commander Major Jackson Kyle, saluted the dead soldiers, and watched as they were cremated.

"Major Kyle, do you receive?" A familiar voice asked.

"Yes, I receive you Melissa, what is it?" He replied patiently.

"We have received orders from command, the Dawn is to remain in orbit, and wait for support, and you and the 9th have been assigned to holding what remains, it's estimated…"

"How about the fact that it's estimated that the rest of my men will be dead before there's any support?" He yelled in a grim tone.

She paused at the Major's grief, the fighting men of the 12th were barely 12 months into the war, and more than half had been killed, the rest scattered into the 9th, 11th, and 6th, he was commanding a dead regiment.

He calmed only to ask.  
>"When will relief be sent?"<p>

"Another 48 hours, give or take a few minutes." She replied.

"Fine, but if I'm taking the ground in this hell hole, get me a tank company, or someone crazy enough to lead one, because I'm holding out on what's left."

"Fair enough, I'll see if there's any team willing to lend a hand."

"Thank you Melissa."

The com went off. He looked to the skies, the beautiful skies, all away from the smoke and ash, the blood and copper, he could see the heavens, there a small ripple, one that seemed almost so insignificant…

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Kronus

The Eldar Void Stalker peeled as fast as it could from the surface, it hurried as the planet began to ripple. From the smooth interior of the CIC of the ship, an elegant figure held her head high; Eldar Farseer Taldeer looked on, her mind still grasping the sudden change of events.

The campaign on Kronus was supposed to be a straight forward attack upon the slumbering armies of the damned shadow armies of the Necrons; however the space marines, the foolish and zealous force of Mon'keigh had engaged in battle and miraculously defeated the Necrons.

But that wasn't just it, there was far more, the space marines then swatted the orks and then were repulsed by chaos, it was then that a large inquisition force arrived to deal with them. Once eliminated, the space marines and their crusade, charged into the tau, but were held at bay, they then attempted to utilise their force by striking at her kin.

The Eldar aspect warriors held them at bay for weeks, but soon the worst came, the dark kin arrived from the depths of space, they engaged the wary troops and began to dig in. But this resulted in a temporary truce, up until the large and strange cataclysmic event took place.

A black hole, one caused by the powers of the necrons, it seemed as though they weren't completely crushed, their space forces remained functional and began to strike in from the skies. But that was interrupted as when a psyker of the mon'keigh used his powers and then ended overloading the necron vessel's capability of space.

Now time was running out, very quickly, the troop transports of the wave serpents and the falcon anti-gravity tanks picked as many troops and delivered them back to safety. Taldeer watched with concern as the final transport returned.

But it still seemed as though hope was to be lost, she couldn't feel anything, the waves, the tides of fate, all things were suddenly weakened, she could only assume that it had been the result of the events in play, but something was wrong.

The black hole that was now ever inching closer seemed to pull all light and darkness within, and within it, the essence of the warp died, like a candle flickering in the night. And that was when she knew that something was more than just wrong.

"Farseer, the warp engines have failed, the transition cannot be completed, the warp is weakening, and it cannot pull us through." A bonesigner called.

Taldeer looked at the ever growing black hole, the warp wasn't just failing it was being absolved, all of light and darkness and matter no longer capable of functioning, she didn't understand it, what was happening?

XXXXX

Gabriel Angelos had adhered to a warning from Captain Thule of the blood ravens, the recent incursions into the Kronus crusade had led to a near victory. However there was a consequence to an untimed disaster, an energy cascade from a battle unmistakably caused a black hole to form.

Now with all the forces attempting to vacate before the entire system is swallowed whole, there was a problem that they tried to avert. Being so close to a black hole that seemed to obliterate all known matter had caused severe interference to their warp drives.

Gabriel thought it had been simply just the effects of the hole disrupting all forms of navigation and entered the system, but he soon found that at fault. The astropaths died as soon as they reached their target destination and the navigator couldn't even locate which way to exit.

The damnable hole had left the fleet of ships dead in the water…

"Can anyone get a positive reading on those reactors?" One ensign yelled.

"None sir, they're dead, the same with the warp drive, the magos doesn't know what's wrong, the machine spirit had just stalled and that was all he could get."

Gabriel roared over the whole mess.

"Then get down there and help, and somebody please get a cleaner in here to remove the cadavers."

The ships were in a panic, they were alongside their brothers, but that didn't comfort them from the fact that the black hole was less than 200,000km from their port bow. The Litany of Fury and the rest of the imperial navy, Lukas Alexander and his Kronus regiments along with some Cadian support were on full tilt, but the issue for them was being too close.

The naval vessels were less than 100,000km and were not able to break free, the sheer pull was staggeringly slow, and as the engines of the fleet began to burn out, they Governor Militant defied the damnable luck that was still there.

The mixed fleet of the other factions that had arrived from the inquisition and the adeptus machinus, he still couldn't believe that after all these months that it took one mistake to send the entire crusade into collapse.

Looking at the empty oblivion, he couldn't help but say this.

"Damn the twisted and absolute lethargic blood sucking leeches of this universe."

The black hole began to completely overtake them as they watched.

XXXXX

The Dawn

"Sir, unknown anomaly at sector 221-334 I count over 30 objects appearing on our ling range sensors." Melissa said alarmed.

"What? Are they covenant signatures?" He asked.

"No, it seems as though they're standard nuclear fission reaction engine signatures, each ship is approximately 3 or more kilometres long, none seem to be moving." She reported.

"Where are the rest of our escorts?" He asked in a more serious tone.

"All positioned at polar axis, it'll take them a while to get back to us, they're on watch for enemy attacks overhead." She replied.

"Damn, of all the luck, Melissa can you get the Dawn for a head to head battle?"

"Yes sir, but I don't know if we could use that to our advantage, these unknowns might be just as powerful as the covenant." She replied tersely.

"Well if they are, then we fight them to the bitter end, and if they aren't we stick here and wait for a response…"

He was interrupted.  
>"Captain, there are multiple signals headed from 277-123, all match covenant search patrol, this time with HK added."<p>

"Dammit, things always get worse for us, tell Kyle to dig deep; he's going to have more company."

XXXXX

On the ground the marauders scattered as orbital fire rained on their heads, Kyle took him and his last battalion to ground. The sporadic fire from the skies sent the troops running, the orbital blasts of plasma ended and the troops prepared for a head to head assault.

Kyle gathered the remnants of the regiment and ordered for the light mechanised to begin mobilisation, he watched as the warthogs armed with AA missile pods and their M50 chain guns rode off into the battle, they circled around the ridge of the base.

The fighters of the enemy force began to attack, bolts of plasma slamming into the earth and stitching the lines of the alliance troops, marauders scrambled into position to avoid the enemy strikes.

The battle blazed into full gear as the hogs drove out in a multitude of patterns and daring tricks, the dance on plasma and missiles along with endless lights made the whole scene glow from the effects, an endless storm of light and sound.

Kyle clamped down on another missile round, shoving the target into his sights the auto lock made the swift banshee fighter an easy target, pulling the trigger 1 missile swerved to intercept. The banshee pilot saw the attack and timed a brilliant corkscrew in mid-air and then dove downwards as the missile lost its sights on the target. But then as the small fighter attempted to escape another missile collided with the cockpit and split the fuselage from the rest of the fighter.

Kyle watched as the burning hulk of the enemy fighter crashed into the earth, his small victory was outlived as the covenant began to attack en masse, he gathered his MA5C and his DMR along with an M40 grenade launcher.

"Come on marines, let's give these covie fuckers what for!" He yelled.

The marauders clambered into to combat, their weapons blazing into the enemy rank as they descended to the earth in spirit transports and phantoms. Marines used everything to cut them asunder, lasers and missiles, and even the covenant's own weaponry.

The battle continued as the marines gave no quarter, this was to the end.

XXXXX

Back in orbit the fleet of imperial ships reorganised each other, their vessels coming back online after the short EM storm from being sucked through the warp, they were just gaining their bearing when a massive vessel appeared nearby.

The Imperial naval forces observed the vast hull of the ship, never had a ship in such a shape been made by man, it was at least 4X the size of a redemption class and looked to carry almost equally greater fire power.

As the fleet gathered amongst themselves, the space marine battle barge Litany of Fury brought itself alongside the fleet, and soon was joined by the varying factions of the imperium's forces. On the Litany the imperial forces met, Davian Thule with his brothers and Gabriel with reinforcements, Canoness Selena Agna and her retinue armed to the teeth for a single wrong move.

Then there was inquisitor Duren Mendel and his small army of grey knights, he had also at his disposal a number of psykers and many more storm troopers. And then there was still the Governor Militant Alexander Lukas, who wasn't in the best of moods. And finally Magos Alden of the machine cult, whom had rather complicated reasons for being here, he was entitled his own force which had arrived to Kronus a day before things went wrong.

"Hah meeting here? After what had happened on Kronus? I'd rather have burnt the very world before I damn follow your orders." He began.

"Governor that is highly unlikely to ever occur, we have far more pressing matters at hand." Duren replied.

"Very well, then I should begin with one question, where are we?" He asked them.

A psyker named Louisa of Alexander's retinue reported.

"My lord I and many other psykers cannot feel any presence of the Astronimican, there is nothing present." She said with some concern.

"How is this possible? The beacon of Terra is ever present, how is it not?" Canoness Selena asked.

It was then Librarian Sunnis interrupted.  
>"I have similar senses, the warp is gone, no trace, nothing."<p>

"So then if we are in a warp voided region, how are we to go to travel?" Magos Alden asked.

It was then Duren came up with his solution. "Simple, we ask the locals."

They turned their attention to the amassing fleet from the bow of the Litany, there they formed into a rough diamond shape, and it was odd why they took to such a formation. Then in a flash of light to the port of their view a fleet of ships came into view, their organic shapes and curved bulbous designs.

"What was that?" Alexander asked.

The tech priests scrambled about, the sensors still recording the sudden appearance of the vessels.

"By the Omissah, the unknown fleet had willed itself through space, they entered through an anomaly of some kind and it brought them through space." A tech priest answered.

"Impossible, there had never been any known method of transportation ever seen such as this." Magos Alden stated in shock.

"Well it looks like there is and those that appeared are now attacking the other fleet." Duren said.

Louisa focused forwards, her mind trying to gain purchase amidst the chaos of the battle, the crews of one ship fighting for their lives while the many others died. She focused into the bulbous ship, the shields vastly different from the imperial fleets own, she found herself in the mind of an alien named Moranee.

XXXXX

"These heretics still hold against us, how long until the next transports are ready major?" Fleet master Relin Tornomee asked.

The female elite seemed off balance and replied. "In… another 30 cycles fleet master."

"Damn, these humans still defy and we still purge, the gods do not favour either side, begin the orbital deployments, we'll expunge them and then saturate them, if that doesn't break their will nothing shall." He said in a tone of determination.

"Aye fleet master, it shall be done." Moranee replied.

The view of the human fleet, the past years running through her mind, she felt different, she didn't know how or why, but it felt different. Years had passed since she joined the war, the humans she encountered on Prodigal, and she watched the burning of dozens of human worlds.

And yet she felt some remorse to the innocents that died, the young seemed helpless and she didn't know why such barbarism was needed, but it was the will of the gods. She closed her eyes and let the images fade away, unknown to her of what had just happened.

XXXXX

Louisa screamed in fury, her telepathy only affecting her as she dropped to the ground.  
>"The xeno, damn them and their ways, I saw them, what they were!"<p>

The others in the group were startled by her sudden outburst, it was then the Governor asked.

"What did you witness in the minds of those fighting?"

She was helped up by the red sashed commissar.

"The enemy is the covenant; a sworn and zealous homogeny of xenos gathered into a single hierarchy, their faith is in some pagan gods sworn to annihilating all those who oppose their beliefs, they wish to ascend with their gods by following 'The Great Journey' and mankind here is the only ones who oppose them."

The others seemed troubled by the revelations, Librarian Sunnis then felt the same thing, but to a lesser extent, without the warp he was slowed greatly by the void. But there in the fleet of bulky shaped vessels he could hear the human crews battling to the end to stop the covenant.

"I can sense them as well, but I dare not enter their minds, they are too far for me to do so." He stated.

Canoness Selena seemed to burn with fury.  
>"What are we waiting for; we must purge these xeno and give them no quarter, if they believe that man should die. Then they shall face our fury before then."<p>

Duren decided to agree.

"I concur, this situation is sharply turning for those who fight, if these people fight for man and against these xeno I see why we should restrain ourselves. How is the status on all vessels?" He asked.

The captain reported.  
>"All available ships are ready; a few sustained overloads in some conduits, though we remain at our best."<p>

"Very well, all ships form around the Litany we shall begin the purge of the forsaken covenant."

XXXXX

Vance watched as another barrage of plasma torpedoes were intercepted by ion dispersal missiles, the energy dissipated to nothingness. He gritted his teeth; the fleet was still another 25 hours from arrival.

"Hold damn it, being the frigates from the portside of their cruisers pummel them in crossfire with the Haldane escorts and the Iron Clads." He ordered."

The ships executed the manoeuvre and successfully managed to punch the defences of 2 cruisers and a frigate, but it came at the cost of 2 more corvettes and a frigate.

"Can we escape to FTL and come around from the far side of L9?"

"No sir, there's far too little space to manoeuvre the fleet in a mass jump." Melissa explained.

Vance was about to reply when there was a sudden flash of light, the cruiser in the covenant formation was neatly severed as a large blast of energy cut through the middle. Vance took note of the trajectory and traced the shot to… the unknown fleet.

"Sir, unknowns are firing on the covenant fleet, I don't know what they used, but it devastated the covenant formation, they're scattering to intercept the unknowns." Melissa reported.

"What? Why are they getting involved in out battle?" He asked no one.

"It seems as though we may have an ally in this war after all." Melissa replied.

The large 5km ship with the eagle head ran directly into the fray, and other ships with masses of gargoyle statues and figures of death drove a sword into the covenant fleet. Lasers and blasts of energy tore into the super structure of each ship, until they retaliated.

The covenant fleet did not simply take punishment, they fought back with a vengeance, pulse lasers and torpedoes along with hundreds of ship to ship batteries replied in unison, a fleet of 30 against a fleet of 40, this was a sight to see.

The 9th joined in, Vance ordering for them to support the unknowns, if there was one thing, it'd be gratitude, and the 9th would live to fight on, against all that the covenant could throw in their direction. The Dawn of Days set itself into the battle, its MACs blazing as it tore with renewed vigour, and the fight was still fresh.

XXXXX

"Captain, xeno ship, its over 27 kilometres long, its drawing out our forces, we can barely hold our shields." An ensign reported.

The fleet was in utter disarray the xenos had scattered as soon as they broke their lines; however the surprise was waiting in the centre of their formation, a massive super carrier armed to the teeth. They were now almost exhausted from engaging and the Nova cannon wouldn't be charged in time to fire again.

Now with the fleet going in to slug the fight out the imperial navy had the advantage, however the sheer range of weaponry was tiring to keep up with, 25 kills and only 10 damaged ships, it was going fairly well considering everything.

Duren and the other leaders were eagerly watching as the fight began to intensify with the super cruiser, the monstrosity was holding them back and withering their shields at a staggering pace. They would survive for long if this continued.

That was when the super cruiser became the first problem to be solved, the massive 20km human vessel charged 40 large cannons, it then fired at the super cruiser simultaneously, and the shields buckled as the shields failed at the 2 shot, the rest punctured the plating at the rear and middle of the massive ship.

The brilliant explosion sent the covenant packing, the fleet scattered attempting to find some semblance of safety they make a beeline for the edge of the system, short bursts of light and soon all are gone, with the exception of ruined hulls.

XXXXX

Melissa appeared once more, her face should have been happy, but something told Vance there was more than just an enemy retreat.

"Sir, Kyle, all of the region, the remainder of 7-6th regiments and refugee convoys were all lost, Kyle was injured during fighting and has demanded for an immediate evacuation of all remaining troops on the ground."

The words hit him far worse than he could have ever imagined. Krugis was lost, it was dead…

XXXXX

"Farseer, where are we?" The exarch of the Howling Banshees asked.

"I don't know…"

They stood aboard the ship, staring out into a world covered in ash, the surface pockmarked, the void stalkers had stopped here, where ever here was….

XXXXX

Oh okay, so here's all the stories I now have…

Halo Origins: Path to Salvation WIP

World of Warcraft: Halo's Call- Event occurred in the aftermath of Salvation

HaloME:Age of Revelation FIN-Epilogue in progress

HALOME: Ascension: -

These are the stories on a more linear timeline

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These are just for fun, and ideas

Halo ME: Fate is never set

Halo Mass Effect: Tomorrow's Embrace

Halo Effect: Freelancer

Seed Effect: Gundam

MEH: The Light of Halo

ME FMA: Zero

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These stories take place in spin offs

Galaxy of Warcraft: Frontier 7

HaloBSG2003: A path to salvation

The World of Fable: Ascension of the Throne

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And now my 40k branch!

Warhammer40k: Halo's Dawn


	2. Chapter 2

CH2

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When dusk sets...

XXXXX

Major Kyle led his marines into another trench, the new covenant reinforcements had struck precisely where he expected them to, and he had planned a few more hours in advance. The teams planted over 20 pressure charges into an open field, the covenant took to the field with wraiths and as much support as they could bring.

Kyle knew what to do next, even as the locust units ran in through the dusty earth, even as his men, fellow teenage marines screamed for their loved ones. He hit the trigger, and then watched as the earth lifted the positions of the enemy emplacements, troops and vehicles alike were tossed about, and then the ground beneath sunk, dragging down as many covenant as it did.

He watched with determination and pride that he would not let his men die, not in a long shot, but that was disrupted as a sharp pitched noise came about. He looked in horror; the object crashed into the plains, in between the large gaps, a covenant scarab emerged like a vengeful titan.

"Marines, rockets, get those HEATs online and burning, take down its legs!" He yelled.

The marines did so, but the scarab began to pummel them with plasma, and soon its energy cannon came active, the green light aimed at Kyle's position, he could only watch as he was soon blinded by the light.

XXXXX

The large gothic cathedral like ships began to approach the 9th fleet, or what remained, and they responded with aiming the MACs in their direction. James Vance couldn't believe it, another damn race in an already crowded region of space, there wasn't anything worse he needed.

He looked about to Melissa.

"What can you get on those ships?"

"Nothing much, just a lot of radio chatter, I think they're using an AM to FM com function, we can tap it if we need." She offered.

"Do it, the sooner we know who the hell wants another piece of us, the better." He replied.

There was a lot of static, until they reached a proper channel, this one using an old TV like reception just for both visual and dialogue. Once connecting them to the ship, James was greeted by a man, who looked very odd, he wore a massive plate of armour, or a suit, and it wasn't just him, there were 4 others in the background.

"This is the UCAF super cruiser Dawn of Days, who am I speaking to?" He asked.

James in truth was scared, but he didn't let that fear compromise him in front of an unknown, he looked to see that one of the large behemoths were confounded, but he kept his eye on the one at the screen.

"I am Captain Davain Thule of the blood raven space marines of the 4th and 1st elements, my fleet came here alongside other imperial vessels, and we were brought here not under our own decision." He stated.

The man next to him stepped up, it seemed as though he was attending to other matters at the given moment before he managed to get a chance to speak.

"I am Governor Militant Lukas Alexander; we arrived under similar circumstances." He announced.

The next to appear was a woman, dressed in an odd looking piece of armour, she had the white hair of a Valentinian yet the same body structure of a Dalein. He couldn't tell who this person was, but she held a bit of fire in those eyes, and more zeal than that of an elite.

"I am Selena Agna of the Order of the Sacred Rose, we come in the name of the emperor to purge all those who stand between his will."

That scared him in more than one way, and concerned him enough to simply nod and look at Melissa. The last man was a dark haired man with a large I and skull icon on his clothes, the gothic skulls and strange patterns made Vance very uncomfortable, this man gave an aura of danger and unquestionable lethality.

"I am inquisitor Duren Mendel, and this is my interrogator Iona. We are here along with the Adepta Sororitas, though the intentions of the inquisition vary." He said introducing to a grey haired young woman.

There were others in his retinue and they looked, odd, but he didn't wish to start anything deeper than that of simple introductions. It just left little to his imagination that there might have been a little curiosity; however these people didn't sit well in his mind.

"So, now if introductions are over, what may a large fleet of ships be doing right in the middle of a region currently in dispute?" He asked.

The large armoured human was the first to reply.

"Our reasons for being here are not of our own, and from what we can tell, there is no astronomican, it is as if Terra itself did not exist."

He was slightly confounded.

"Astronomican? Terra? What are you on about?" He asked.

The large space marine looked at him shocked, just as the rest of those by him.

"What? How could you not have heard of the blessed Emperor?"

"How about because we haven't heard of him, look here, were stuck fighting a group of overzealous psychotic aliens bent on extermination of the human race and we're losing badly, I don't honestly know of what Terra might be, but you better start making sense." He replied annoyed.

The space marine tried to keep his peace.

"Very well, Terra is the birth place of mankind, and the Emperor's rightful throne, we cannot sense its beacon, and our navigator has been unable to contact or feel our blessed emperor's presence."

Vance suddenly remembered what they meant by Terra, the old language of the first colonists, when they talked about earth, terra, he could put the two pieces together. But what by the light did they mean 'navigators'.

"Terra, are you talking about earth?" He asked.

"Yes, holy Terra, earth by your words, but a sacred place by ours." Davian said.

"Okay, why cannot your navigators manage to locate earth?"

"That is the question that we wish to ask you." He replied.

XXXXX

Davian was becoming restless as were his fellow marines and Angelos; the others who had gathered under the circumstances of the situation were not equally happy being in each other's presence.

He was about to wait for a response when Psyker Louisa suddenly interrupted them.

"My lord, I believe I may have discovered something, rather disturbing." She said with apt concern.

The group looked to her, they then paused their discussion from the UCAF captain.

"The warp may not be existent here, however milord I have discovered that a greater amount of focus is necessary to enter their minds, I have gleamed that the time and place of our arrival is 2529, we are in the middle of the third millennium, an era that even the dark ages had never recorded, for all we know this is a crucial point of mankind's venture into the galaxy."

The news seemed to startle them all; if what she said was true things could end badly.

It was then that librarian Sunnis interrupted them.

"I believe we may be able to solve our situation."

XXXXX

Another person of the group, one with an odd head dress, helm with wires and odd glowing emblem began to speak to Davian and the rest of the imperials, he was in a short discussion when he looked back at Vance, he then asked.

"My brother has alerted me, that this is the 26th century?"

"Yes." Vance replied.

"So we see." The inquisitor added.

"So I assume that means that no man by the strength and power of the emperor has appeared?"

"Not that I can tell you of."

"And you are near exhaustion of your forces against the alien menace that plagues your people?"

He asked.

"Yes, that we established nearly as soon as the covenant fleet entered and you helped repel them, the covenant want all humanity exterminated and they are doing a very damn good job of it." He responded annoyed.

The space marine paused and began to speak amongst the others, their faces grim and some furious, they returned to face the captain. The mother superior looked and stated.

"The majority of us have come to an agreement, your people face extermination at the hands of xeno, and you fight a losing war, mankind is threatened here and now, we shall aid you in the purge of those who dare to stand before humanities finest."

"That's very thoughtful of you, but I don't think you know what we are doing, we'll send some tactical data to help, but why are you aiding us? Not trying to sound ungrateful, but most people would try to avoid our conflict." He asked.

"The emperor has yet to come into the galaxy, and your race is under threat, if you fall now then man shall be lost before his glorious rise." She replied with a fury.

"Well then it's settled, the UCAF is not to fall, I shall lead my brothers into battle, give us a target and we shall join this fight!" Davain said.

XXXXX

Kyle picked himself from the earth, the dirt had covered him from being cooked alive, he moved out and walked to the remains of the scarab, and he missed the fight. The marines were gathering the remains of the armour, the scorpion had been cleared away, and the last Elephants were gathered to move the survivors out of the battle.

"Sir, you okay?" Thom asked.

He looked to the young corporal, he helped him to his feet, they walked to the command hog, the remains of the lieutenant and the lance corporal and what remained of the 12th. Barely 400 remained of the battalion strength, he saw many more bodies of the covenant, but still it wasn't enough, the enemy had come to die, and they made sure they did, but they still got to them.

"Thom, gather the last of the troops, we're moving to Calden, get Simon on the horn, and tell him to get the captain to call off that support, we're going to Calden."

He nodded, they began to travel away from the battlefield, the corpses of the last few hundred good men, good kids, friends.

XXXXX

"Sir, update from the field. Major Kyle has ordered a withdrawal from sector 9-0-9, they were now heading to position 5-1-5, he says that he's lost over half his numbers, what remains is less than enough to last any longer. He requests armour support of his surviving force, Calden Heights."

"Damn it we were too late, reply, that support is on its way, we understand that it is Calden, call in for an ADST force with heavy AA and AT weapons, I need an armour team as well." Vance said.

He was interrupted as the Imperial forces said.

"Your troops have been drawn to their limits?"

"More than you could imagine, you said that you'd be happy to lend assistance, well here's your chance." Vance offered.

"Very well, give the coordinates to the strike force, we'll aid in this coming battle."

XXXXX

Force Commander Gabriel Angelos headed to his drop-pod, he was followed in by his fellow Blood Ravens, the 5 squads and tactical dreadnought 2 squads of terminators and 3 wings of assault marines pitched themselves into their vehicles, ready for battle.

There were also the many other teams of space marines, smaller in number, but equally versatile in their functions, White Scars, Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, and the Black Templars. There had been enough to take a planet, but they needed to be sent to the single location of the UCAF marines, as the covenant began to converge upon them.

The Imperial Guard led by General Vance Stubbs gathered their armour and troops for a full scale battle, they were getting everything prepared, these covenant that the UCAF alerted them about were far more dangerous than they looked.

The sisters of battle too gathered their forces and the inquisition with their grey knights, they would stand tall in the face of an enemy, even if their allies were not as grand, and they were honourable and respectable.

XXXXX

Kyle pinned another Elite Major in the face, his BR-55A pierced the skull and exited the rear of its trachea, dropping to the floor the grunts scattered, and Thom in another squad lobbed a grenade and removed the last enemy units.

"Keep those ugly ass mother fuckers at bay, don't let them get an inch, fire teams Meta and Theta head to cover the snipers on H1, hold the line, support is coming." He ordered.

The major arrived at the Heights, a snowy little region only 200km away from the initial battlefield; they were gathered here to defend what remained of the base on the mountain side. There was an open landing zone on top and whatever that the covenant had, they focused on the few companies.

Kyle gritted his teeth as the covenant began to bear upon him and his force, he couldn't help but feel as though they'd be dead before support arrived, but then again, he always felt like that.

XXXXX

Not far away from the engagement on Calden, the marines of the 20th reconnaissance and tactical operations teams had been scattered, most of those who remained alive were in the deepest remaining forests.

Duel Mikel a young Krugis teenager recruited for the war, headed through the snow, his eyes twitching left to right, he made sure that the covenant hadn't been able to track him and Bale, they had planned to reach Calden but were discouraged as the covenant surrounded the region.

He and Bale were now headed to safe house 244; the only safe house stored in the region, the covenant couldn't and wouldn't be able to locate it. As Duel reached the cliff wall, he began to press on some of the small cracks, he located one that was loose and shoved it in.

A wall section about 2mx2m opened he stepped in and closed the door behind, he knew that Bale might have made it here before him so either one would be waiting at the door. When he entered however, he was greeted by lights and silence.

The room was utilitarian as was all UCAF base designs, he noted immediately that there was doors ajar and some boxes in different places, the last time he checked the bases were only known to the recon teams alone.

He drew his M7S variant C, he carefully activated the multi scanner to the lens of his helmet HUD, and soon he was on his toes. Looking about he could tell something was far off, headed to the corridor, he opened the doorway, he scanned left and right, the place was empty, as it should be.

As he headed through the corridor he searched each room, all being empty, he then arrived at the other end of Section I, he opened the door to M1 hangar, and the mountain hangar was an unlikely possible place for someone to be living inside of.

But his mind got to him either way, he opened the decon chamber and soon it opened to the other side, he came out into the open chamber, and he stood there... he couldn't believe what he saw.

A fleet of vessels sat in the mountain base; the main line UCAF hidden operations base for the ONI during the assault on Prodigal, there was 5 ships sitting in there. He looked at the nearest vessel.

It was white, and shaped like a bird of sorts, it was smooth, smoother than that of covenant designs and more streamlined that the organic shapes of them seemed more alive. He couldn't tell if this was something that he was dreaming, but he could see it.

He only took two steps before he heard something approaching him; he turned to his right as a being materialised, humanoid and tall, taller than him. Duel managed to only put his rifle up as he was suddenly struck from behind.

His lasts thoughts before succumbing to darkness.

'The protocol, damn it, the protocol...'

Bale was only 5 feet away; he could see his armour broken in places, blood on the floor.

XXXXX

Taldeer watched as the new mon'keigh went down quickly, his counterpart was not so easy to lure, he managed to fire off a dozen rounds by his weapon, the crude bullets managed to punch a hole in once guardian's armour before over 2 dozen rounds ended the soldier.

She was unsure as to what this mon'keigh were, they seemed different, acting on instinct rather than simply training, they used more crude weapons less powerful than that of the imperium. She couldn't help but be astounded that the soldier that had died was merely a teenager, these children were specialised in recon and tactical operations.

She had seen child soldiers of the imperium before, however that was rare, most children were helpless and easy prey for the enemies of man, and yet here was a 15 year old with a weapon trying to survive.

She was now watching as the new human was taken from the hangar entrance, her void stalker along with the others were hidden here, this mountain facility, it was interesting that they built such a massive hangar for special operations.

The bonesingers and some guardian had located the data banks of the base, the hundreds of records of the base were easy to take, and even though being on different means of technology they seemed rather simple to gain access to.

The only problem was that the records themselves were more than 75 years out of date; she didn't need to be a genius to know that was one reason for the ease of access. She was now probing the mind of the unconscious teen; his body was dragged over to her and unceremoniously dropped in a heap.

"Farseer, the child is ready, do you wish for us to guard?"

"No that won't be necessary, I doubt a single child could possibly overpower me, I shall reach into his mind of where we are, and why we cannot enter the warp, I can still feel a possible link."

"Very well, we shall tend to other matters at hand." The guardian's replied.

She was left alone to tend to the mind of the unknown factor.

"Now, let us see the secrets you hold young one." She said.

XXXXX

The covenant had been engaged heavily, they couldn't progress but they couldn't retreat, the UCAF had begun to burn their rear lines, the striker fighters stitching their lines like a skilled designer.

Kyle unloaded another DMR round into the base of the skull of an unfortunate jackal as it tried to snipe him, he reloaded his DMR after spending the whole clip trying to pick off all the closest runners and gunners.

Kyle watched as another round blew apart a LRV next to his trench, he lifted his DMR again and began to fire on another regular elite. The DMR removed the elite's skull and dropped him to the floor.

Kyle was just curious as to what kind of support was to arrive, he began to run out of clips as he killed another 5 more, he was about to call another fall back when he heard of the sharp whistling sound from above.

He thought it was an ODST team or even the ADST strike teams, not a giant red hexagonal egg pod, he almost thrown from his position as the pods crashed to the earth. He looked over at the pods, as they hissed they popped open.

He had seen many things in his lifetime, but to see a 8ft tall monstrosity with a larger gun, Kyle only wondered what was the captain doing by sending unknowns on the ground. The massive soldier lifted the gun and fired at the covenant charging, his voice boomed over their firing.

"For the emperor!"

There were more than another 6 that followed and suddenly there was dozens of the armoured soldiers off to hunt the covenant, all their large weapons tearing apart the covenant. An elite major took 3 rounds before his shields collapsed and a round punched a hole in its torso.

The number of covenant began to drop dramatically and rapidly, there was another roar as the large soldiers were joined by a group of women armoured and using similar weapons, they began to burn the surrounding earth and fired in concentrated bursts.

Kyle could only watch in amazement as the battle took to their favour, and he only noted the sudden arrival of the ADST and ODST squads from the skies as they decelerated onto the ground.

An ADST with his jump pack landed square next to Kyle, he saluted as he drew his rifle.

"Sir, the Dawn encountered an unknown ally in orbit, they offered their services to us to defeat the covenant, their called the Imperium, I don't know the exact details, but they said that they're here to help." The ADST said adding his fire power.

"You better be damn right boy, these guys look like they can pack more than enough fire power to take on the fucking universe."

"You have no idea sir."

XXXXX

Gabriel swung about with his chainsword and fired off his boltgun, the massive round punched through the layers of armour and shielding and lathered the remains of the alien corpse unto the earth.

He aimed again, a stout little alien screamed and ran as he fired off another round; the shot hit the little alien in the back of the head. The alien made a pop and then a 'yay'. He looked at it and continued on his path of destruction.

The UCAF marines began to repulse the covenant, hundreds of troops began to cut away at the cowering aliens, the marines were merciless in their retaliation. Even against superior numbers they managed to hold, and not break down.

Gabriel was amazed by the sheer mental steel of their troops, most would have had some issues by know, especially since the space marines arrived. But none seemed to notice or care, and the few who did were already trying to counter the aliens.

The marines pushed the covenant back almost immediately; it took only about 30 minutes before they removed the last forms of resistance.

XXXXX

Duel couldn't help but feel odd, he was in a white place, it was vibrant and bright, the darkness was clearing away, he could tell that he was lighter. More than lighter, he tried to focus on the light above.

"What, where am I?" He asked himself.

"You are safe child, you are in the lower hold of our ship." An elegant musical like tone replied.

He looked about, his eyes adjusting to the light, and then to the headache that followed, he had been wasted enough times during aftermath drinks that he was used to the pains. He opened his eyes again and focused on the figure in front of him, he almost reacted immediately when he checked for his pistol, and then for his combat knife.

"I guess it was too much to ask for a simple death now wasn't it?" He said.

"No, not entirely, we would have simply discard you, however my senses told me to wait for you to come to consciousness, they flowed through you as though you knew more than what you were. And I believe them enough to trust allowing you to live; you are a unique person Duel Mikel." She said melodically.

He couldn't but help but feel calm around her; she seemed to know him, too well...

"What the hell? How in hell are you making me feeling tired?" He asked trying to keep his mind focused.

Taldeer was concentrating as much as she could, but the young soldier still managed to keep himself conscious, it was intriguing and rather disturbing. Humans without any or little psychic capability usually went down in moments, but Duel was managing to keep his eyes open.

This soon ended as she removed the blanket from the area; his mind was then calmed as he stood up straight and looked at her with utter confusion. He said to her.

"Okay, now if using jedi mind tricks have ended please quit trying to make me run at you, I doubt 180 pounds of human and metal and armour." He threatened humorously.

"Very well mon'keigh I shall take that as a precaution, but I advise you to remain seated." She replied.

Duel looked at her, she was definitely over 6ft and she looked brilliant like a imperial model of the vindicator guardians, he looked at her with interest, but he tried to suppress his urge to look amazed.

He didn't realise that she was psychic or that she was reading his thoughts on her, even as difficult as it was, she tried not to reveal the existence of her powers, rather a primitive human that didn't know rather than a human that did and panicked.

"So, what exactly do you need to know?" He asked. His mind already knew the answers.

'What are you trying to find out about me, rank, name, origins, huh, these beings can try, but I know that your trying to figure out something, you can bet I can see it.'

She wondered the show of intelligence and if that it was present in almost all humans, she began with a simple question.

"Who are you?"

"Lieutenant 1st grade Special operations and Reconnaissance of the UCAF, I was tasked with rallying with a fellow squad member here, however I think that you might know what had happened to him." He said with some lacing of anger in his tone.

"Yes, well you might like to know, but he is dead, a simple mishap at the doorway made my kin open fire upon him, he attempted to defend himself amicably, however was killed." She responded.

He looked at her with a tinge of anger, and rather more saddened than infuriated.

"Bale was always the one to get into a fight and the last to get out, I won't say any more than that."

He looked at her and asked.

"So you asked me a question, can I ask you one?"

"You do not require my attention in answer that." She replied.

"Okay, well you're here and yet you aren't human and you're not affiliated with the covenant so, that means that either you're another race we just haven't met or you're just wandering about."

"If that is by your short sighted observation, the yes, we are just wanderers in this place."

"Okay your turn." He said sitting back.

She couldn't make out why this young man seemed so forwards, most humans would be shouting otherwise, or about other things rather than a simple exchange. She didn't probe his mind again, not now, it was rather soon.

"You seem rather young for a soldier, why did you join your military force?" She asked with a tone of apt curiosity.

He seemed rather dark about it. "My family was here on Krugis, and my friends, they were at Iden Gates, the space ports, never managed to get clear before a cruiser wiped them out. I was already part of the forces, it was just that we're given options at a younger age, once we decide we remain with our choice."

She looked at him with some sense of understanding, the choices people make, and she could understand that it happens, even if they didn't want it to. She simply looked at him silently, and then waited as he asked.

"What race are you?"

"We are called the Eldar, the children of the stars, born with purpose and reasons that even you may not understand. My people were once a greater race; we spanned our galaxy without opposition and lived amongst gods, and however our arrogance became our down fall." She expressed uniformly.

"The UCAF sounds different in many ways then, we don't live in the luxury of advanced technologies, or power, we live like any being, urban homes and lifestyles, our outer farming and colonising." He replied in a melancholy thought.

"Your people are odd, the mon'keigh that I had ever encountered have never been negotiable nor understanding, it is intriguing to see a change in such encounter."

"Yeah well I can say the same for ever getting the chance to have a proper discussion with another being without being shot or yelled at, huh, strange universe ain't it?" He said rhetorically.

"Yes strange indeed." She replied.

XXXXX

Calden Heights

Kyle hefted the remains of Corporal Thom onto his side, he picked the dog tags of another fallen brother in arms, he left the body next to the pile of bodies or what remained and stacked them cautiously. He watched as Liam began to set the bodies alight, he watched as the fallen marauders were burning all the young and the old, they never got beyond 5 years, he couldn't help but feel empty.

"All troops are to regroup, the support teams load up, and we're moving to Tareth, the 3rd remnants of the 11th are waiting for us." He ordered.

The remaining 350 of his men gathered the equipment, the other ADST force and ODST picked up their gear, now there was 475 UCAF marines and what armour that was left. The Imperial forces gathered their weapons and prayed for the dead, they then headed alongside them, and the largest of the imperial forces an armoured tank named Gabriel.

"Greetings Major, I assume that you intend to withdraw from this region?" He asked.

Kyle replied. "Yes commander, I intend to withdraw all I have left of my men."

A man in a red suit alongside his veteran squad of troops snorted, he didn't seem to like the idea that man should leave the planet, the war was still on.

"Where do you intend to take them to?" Gabriel asked.

"Tareth, our last standing port capable city, it's the only place for my troops to get off world, the Dawn can't extract us while in this place, little cover and it's an open target for enemy fighters, we'd be cut to pieces. Tareth still has air superiority and numbers, not to mention defence. I promised that I would get them the hell off this pile of dirt if that's the last thing I do." Kyle replied.

"Fond of your brothers in arms, but you should not try to think of them, a commander needs to be cold and collected, or it may become your own undoing, just a word of precaution."

"I understand the difference commander; however I still intend to get them off this place alive." Kyle replied.

They went on about to the warthogs and HRVs and AAVs, they walked to the marshalling ground, the hundreds of troops gathered on various vehicles and in a spearhead formation. The space marines were to ride along in the HRVs with the rest of the imperial forces, while the troops covered from their LRVs.

Climbing onto a hog, he yelled.

"Start em' up we're heading for Tareth."

XXXXX

Commissar Haden Lukas watched from the rear of the lines of his troops, the Kronus Liberators had not been expectant of what had happened to their world, nor expectant to what happened after. The mix of the Kronus regiment and the Cadian regiment he had under his command he needed to find out what he needed to do next, he organised his troops from the battle, which was a surprising turnabout from fighting the xeno scum that he usually did.

The covenant had been harder to defeat, in terms of their technology and weaponry, the troops were out in the open though, and their rear lines with snipers. He had seen tactics like it, but not in a way that it resembled the Guard's own.

He watched as the troops assembled themselves into order, once then he walked to where the UCAF Major in command of the troops here was in discussion, when he heard 'withdrawal' he scoffed at the word. These troops intended to depart this sacred world of men to the alien? Bah, he could see that there was incompetence in those that commanded, but it was not his call to make, not yet of course.

The UCAF allowed for them to ride in their vehicles, the massive black armoured transports with turrets and missile pods, it was the best way to reach Tareth in the next few hours. UCAF Dawn had pointed out a landing zone for the extraction and set the marker.

The sisters of battle and the other imperial factions began to load onto transports; however he and his men were to share a transport along with the space marines. He wasn't uncomfortable, but being squashed next to the massive warriors was not the most comforting thought.

Tech priests and Tech marines began to load themselves into a transport not far away, but ended up causing a commotion about how the UCAF started their machinery, they were quickly hushed by Gabriel and Haden.

It however did not sit well in the eyes of Magos Arden Ordel, he had never seen such careless regard to the machine spirit, but he decided to keep in mind of the UCAF and what year that this was. He was still however not happy, he watched as the drivers simply started the vehicles up, the large transports seemed slow, at first, that was until a young adept named Phil kicked started the engines.

The HRVs seemed to spring from 55km – 125km, they were nearly tossed as they were driven over a small bump on the road. The UCAF had some rather insane driving skills; he had never expected a transport the size of 3 rhinos be able to pull such a stunt off.

An adept named Olin asked. "Magos, the machine spirit seems to be high today, the only exception to the fact that these machines don't seem to have suspensions."

"I noticed adept, though I doubt that we'd be given a chance to enquire." He said trying to gain balance.

On the transport with Gabriel seemed to hold tightly onto the wall of the elephant, and tried to ensure that he didn't accidentally land on a poor guardsman. He noted that he wasn't the only soldier that wasn't having trouble standing, but he was amazed that the UCAF troops were simply standing without falling over.

Kyle was unsure, he could tell that the HRV M825s were faster than your average elephant, but he could see that the imperials had some trouble levelling themselves, as a sister of battle landed in the lap of Jordan, who seemed to hold his breath as the 250pound suit crushed his hip.

"OW"

XXXXX

Tareth east port

The HRV convoy entered unabated, they were welcomed by the sight of their brothers, the scorpion tanks and wolverines turned about to cover them. The covenant ships entering the atmosphere was still dreadful sight, the corvettes fired waves of plasma blasts and lower pulse lasers to cut apart buildings.

ASGM batteries were emplacements fired constantly in waves of missiles, the Argent V missiles and ASPL- Anti-ship pulse lasers; the region was covered in a hazy blood red, the smoke covering the small city.

HRVs unloaded its troops and disembarked the hundreds of marines, the warthogs and scorpion tanks engaged small pockets of covenant over the length of the city. Marines fired under-slung 40mm grenades, the blasts sending enemy troops into cover and shattering their morale.

Kyle stepped out to see that Tareth had yet to fall, thanks to the 11th armoured division, and the remains of the 4th and 22nd. He was approached by Colonel Kale Ilonis, the two saluted.

"Kyle good to see you." He said grasping his hand.

"Yeah, but I wish it was on better terms, we've got covenant appearing in orbit, and no support for another 12 hours, we're pulling out, how's the landing?" He asked.

"They've got the pods ready, and the vultures are prepared, we need to hold off the remaining corvettes for another 3 hours and we should be fine, but from what the reports said, they've got a whole division plus armour bearing on our asses."

"Damn, looks like we're going to have a fight on our hands, any ideas on what to face?" He asked.

"The phantoms and ghosts, they've got wraiths on the outskirts pushing for a rolling barrage, and a full skirmisher line headed up high, I'd suggest you get your boys ready, it's going to be rough."

XXXXX

Gabriel had seen many battles, heretics and orks on Lorn V, the endless mounds of metal and souless bodies of the necrons on Kronus and the illusive eldar, and the tau; he had yet to face the dark eldar or the tyranids, exception to scouting patrols.

But now these covenant seem almost as harsh, with the only exception that their armour was not very effective, he brought his chain sword on the head of a commander, his helmet scratched and buckled, a mandible was severed. The elite stood back, grasping his energy swords, they backed away and then clashed once more, the blades and mono molecular teeth grinding.

Gabriel watched in surprise as his chainsword suddenly stalled, the engine of the blade began to overheat from the clash, as it had been far too greater strain on the integrity. The duel blades of the elite sliced the sword and melted through the sword, Gabriel ducked away from the energy slashes.

He stood back up to face his opponents, however a large blast stopped him, the elite' head went missing, he turned about to see a large long barrelled weapon in the hands of a UCAF trooper, his eye sights trained on the next elite on approach.

Gabriel smirked, pulling his bolt gun he begins to add another gun into the battle, he could tell that these troopers were skilled, if he knew better that trooper might have been a karskin.

XXXXX

Sister Angela brought her flamer to bear; she scorched the earth where a small squad of grunts had been unfortunate enough to be standing near. She had joined the first few teams to aid the UCAF troops.

She was unnerved by finding these children instead of actual troops as the defenders of these worlds, she had helped white shields before and trainees, and she had just never seen actual children as troopers.

Their ruffled hair and ruined armour was a statement to their efforts, the young trooper with a grenade launcher would be in most likely chances younger than the rest, but he had an eye for fragging enemy squads and for being lucky.

She was less than 10 feet from a squad which was keeping up with the enemy advance, their riflemen picking their targets well, the teen named Jordan picked another squad, he timed his shot the 40mm kicked from the 13 yr. old hands, the EM round detonated.

The rest of the squad began to pick off the injured and shield less, the DMRs and BR-55s kicking back as they popped the shields and cut the elites down. Another trooper named Andy managed to cook a grenade and prime a toss into the battle, they picked off those who ran, and the grenade pummelled those who remained.

Jordan went back to the fight by picking up his M6-L and began to pick off the troops with his pistol. But the short skirmish was ended as the sounds of running feet and squawks told those worse.

"Skirmishers, on the roofs, look out!" Andy yelled.

The squad turned to fire at the squad of runners, their sharp feathery angled bodies jumping from the roofs; their agile bodies resisted the impact from the fall as they began to fire. Jordan picked 2 off and injured 1; the rest of the squad piled the numbers on the floor. Meanwhile Angela walked ahead and began to burn them with her flamer.

United they thinned the rush, however 2 of the squad was injured and the rest low on ammo, Jordan was helping prepare for the next attack, their evac time was another 30 minutes. And the covenant began to prepare for another attack.

Jordan and his fellow marauders gathered themselves under the cover off a building, Andy picked his way through the ruins, the dirty grounds and broken glass, Andy shifted another grenade from a weapon canister. The UCAF had always tried to prepare the troops for long fire fights.

Angela walked over to the group of rugged teens; they looked at her in silence, no kinds of expressions on their faces. Yuri another trooper, was handing out ammo clips, Angela honestly believed that she could say something to cheer them into battle; however none looked even remotely religious.

Jordan looked at her and pointed his M6. "Ma'am, I think you might want to duck."

She downed her head, a sharp crack of his pistol and there was a sharp squawk, he smiled.

"Never look away... or they'd get to you like Tim." He said in a airy tone.

She looked over at the child, he was oddly lanky and was slightly built, and he was much like the rest, all well trained for war. She had noticed something that had made the troopers grin, and noticed she was lying down on top of the trooper named Tim.

"Um hi?" He said.

She quickly recoiled from lying on top of him, she hadn't expected that, the troops stopped grinning; they focused on the small cylinder heater/light. The UCAF troops were grabbing a few moments of peace, and the odd smoke, which wasn't an Iho stick.

Jordan broke the silence.

"So, why did you join this god forsaken hell hole?"

XXXXX

Duel wouldn't know how much time had passed since his meeting and discussion with the strange alien called the eldar; he was currently reading his novel: Heavens Grace, the story of Haven's Gate during the first days of the war. It was historically the first human bastion to fall, and the greatest defeat.

He gave the eldar his recounts of the war, but for some odd reason he didn't know why he trusted them. Reading on the battle for Acre's Point, of chapter 3, he read through for the 7th time of the great battle, the hundreds of troops who held back the covenant for 5 days.

That was when the door opened, closing the book he noticed immediately the eldar units called the guardians, they looked at him, one spoke and said.

"The Farseer has decided that you may exit the room and meet with her on the bridge." The warrior said in a calm musical tone.

"Okay, take me there." Duel replied.

It took a few minutes of walking in a straight line; he entered into the CIC or what he expected to be a CIC. He was greeted by the organic like white structures surrounding him, it was all part of the ship, another part of him observed.

"So, there is something that you could comprehend, it is a shame that you would never grasp the concept of the wraith-bone."

"Okay, enough with the oversimplification of me, I would just like to know, why you need me now."

He asked.

"I would like for you to gain contact with your brethren, you say that they'd appreciate help and welcome those who would aid them." She said.

"Yes, though I'm not really sure about allying with other races, I explained that they'd trust renegades more than aliens, no offence." He apologised.

"None taken." She replied.

"Well, it isn't easy, the UCAF fleet was contacted when you captured me, it should be rather soon, you can speak with admiral Jason Cartwright, he's a rear admiral, but better than none, he's been in command of the this region's forces since the beginning. And he's trusting to those who can prove their dedication." He explained.

"A born leader of men, I see, where is the rally point?"

XXXXX

The Dawn of Days fired another MAC wave, the covenant began to pile in once more, their fleet drawn in by the newcomers, and the Imperial Naval vessels were caught trying to pummel back, their numbers being drawn out as they did.

The covenant had come back with a vengeance, the fleet consisted of 55 and including a super carrier, the covenant had begun to hammer the imperial fleet back. But there was still hope, James knew it and he wasn't planning on accepting defeat, the UCAF was going to drag them to hell one way or another.

"Sir, covenant have begun to split the battle group, the imperial fleet can't handle the sheer number of enemy fire concentrated on them."

"Then bring out the big guns, the Hornets are a go, set charges in 5 seconds, under code, Virtuous Grace-90-12-22."

Melissa acknowledged and began the detonation sequence, the mines in place of the enemy fleet were going to go off, and it would buy the imperials a few more minutes of reprieve from the battle.

The sudden blast of energy caught the covenant fleet off guard.

The Dawn lashed out with her 4 MACs and began to devastate all within reach of its weapons, however that did mildly as the covenant continued to harry the Imperial fleet.

James was interrupted as an ensign alerted him.

"Sir, the ground forces are breaking off, shuttle teams begun to extract all survivors from the immediate combat zone, teams 1-9 have begun to return, and full extraction is imminent."

"Good to hear, what about the spec ops teams?" He asked.

"Nothing from them yet, I've managed to sweep the regions, but so far none of the spec op teams have managed to reply on any frequency."

"Damn, we can't afford to wait for them, if they know what they're doing then we should be fine."

"Agreed sir."

XXXXX

Gabriel was now outside the range of the covenant's steady bombardment range, the plasma mortars chipping away inaccurately at the remains of the city. He watched as the UCAF began to withdraw, the last troopers arrived in the pocket to get aboard the shuttles.

He was currently waiting for the smaller pocket teams to hurry and return, he saw one sister of battle who was in the company of a small team of marauders, and they seemed to get along well. He turned his attention to the other troops on retreat; they fell back to the base of the port.

Hundreds of injured and wounded all clambering to their brothers aid, the technical companies were accumulating all those left without teams or companies to return to, organising them for scrap teams. He couldn't help but see the grim determination of such soldiers; even in the face of destruction they were willing to continue the fight.

XXXXX

Angela had boarded the last flight from the port alongside the small team called 'borders'; they were gathered in the cargo bay of a large vessel called a pod. The ship began a steady ascent along with the dozen or so other pods, the withdrawal was going to be swift, but not easy.

The large shuttle was shaken as the AA fire and weapons exchanged in open combat, the UCAF squadrons were holding back whatever was left of their enemies, whilst the Vulture gunships began to provide heavier support and protection.

The pod continued to shake as the battle intensified outside, the team themselves braced the walls and awaited for the worst, enemy fire was one thing, but being sucked into a vacuum was another. Angela watched from a small port to the stern of the cargo bay, the deep thuds an every present reminder to the enemies outside, bent on man's destruction.

She gritted her teeth as the enemy ships began a barrage of attacks on the planet, the surface becoming super-heated from the short blasts. The marines called this technique 'glassing', their enemies would burn the planet to a lifeless husk.

Once the pods reached orbit, they gathered in space, and then in a pack, they swarmed over to the Dawn as she opened the airlocks. Each pod situated themselves onto the airlocks and then began to disembark the troops.

XXXXX

Kyle exited alongside the company force commander Gabriel Angelos, they walked over to where the remains of his troops were, the 330 of them gathered at the recovery ward. The ADST and ODST were headed to their recovery posts, but not alongside the regulars.

Kyle, once dismissing his troops to their posts, headed to the bridge along with Gabriel and the other commanding officers of the imperium. Once arriving, Kyle was greeted by the sight of the captain; he was in talks with the Imperial admiral of what to do next.

With the troops aboard and the 9th soon to be relieved, Kyle was greeted by the captain who lived for his men, James had done all he could in providing support for Kyle and the troops of the 4th to the 11th companies. But when in command of the fleet as well as the ground troops it stretches one's ability to command both effectively.

"Major, it's good to see you, and greetings commander Angelos." He said to both men.

Kyle stood up and asked.

"Sir, as great as we're all back, the planet is lost, has the fleet arrived?"

"They just entered the system now, just look outside." He said gesturing to the ensuing battle.

The UCAF fleet had arrived and just in time, the imperials were gathered alongside the Dawn and were fending the last smaller force of enemy ships back. In space the entire 11th fleet was engaged in a head to head fight, and they were winning.

Large Haldane escorts and Guardian cruisers were locked in split combat, MACs and rail cannons blasting away. Missiles from the other Mythic class the 'Blade of Honour' was firing its own volley of MACs into the fray.

That was when a direct call from the admiral arrived.

"Sir, it's the admiral Cartwright, he want you on the line."

"Patch him through then."

The screen light up of a man who looked as though he was in his late 20s, his firm posture and daunting eyes, he looked like a man who had seen enough war in his life.

"Captain, I see that you've brought along some allies, I didn't know that there was other powers so willing to aid us." He said with an intrigued tone.

"Sir, the imperials say that they are here to simply aid us, I didn't see as though we needed to turn down their offer."

"Very well, I suppose that the ONI are just going to have to figure something out, is there anything we should know before we try to begin talks?"

"Not that I know off, though I should add in my report that we lost contact with the spec ops teams nearly a few hours ago, have you been able to hail them?"

"No, we tried that as soon as we entered the system, the command nodes at the Hill's base are non-responsive and I doubt we would hear much."

"Damn, another team gone down."

"Yes well, you shouldn't try to concern too much about the spec ops, they're lost almost daily now, is there anything else I need to know?"

"Nothing..." 

"Then I should be meeting with our guests..."

Melissa appeared her face slightly grave.

"Sir we have 5 unknowns appearing off at 122-344, they have the friendly IFF of specialist Duel aboard."

"What? That means that the team was captured." James expressed in surprise.

The same readings were on the admiral's ship.

"What are the unknown's vessels configurations?"

"None that matches the covenant's sir."

"Put it on screen." He ordered.

The image appeared from the port display, a fleet of ships, graceful in design and shape, they looked elegant and yet deadly, the void stalkers of the eldar always did.

Gabriel seemed to growl about the eldar, his eyes unmoving from the fleet's approach that was when the image of lieutenant Duel appeared.

"Sir, unit-020020, identification code: Frost." He said.

"Lieutenant Duel, what might I ask would you be doing on that ship?" The admiral asked.

Another voice took over for Duel.

"He has been of aid to us, Admiral Cartwright."

The image of an elven shaped woman with an aura of elegance and lethality appeared, her form seemed almost ethereal.

The admiral replied.

"And who might you be?" 

"Farseer Taldeer of Ulthwe, your lieutenant has been a bounty of help, as he explained some necessary details of this universe. I come in the interest of my people; we have believed that you may provide some rather needed assistance."

"Assistance?"

"Yes, it is unusual that we'd ever ask for any assistance with any race, however the situation demanded it, the lieutenant explained that the star charts and universal research into deep space exploration and development, had discovered that there is no warp. And as such our vessels as well as imperial are stranded at sublight."

Governor Militant Lukas interrupted.

"And how would you know that eldar?"

"Because we would have simply vanished elsewhere, as would you, the warp does not exist in this universe, and we can prove it."

The images of star plans appeared the images of the galactic centre points taken over the years appeared. The Maelstrom, the point of entry in the warp, where it should have been was an empty piece of space, a nebula known as Aurora's Light.

Another image of the galaxy, the place where the eye of terror should have been, and where the eldar homeworld had once been, there was nothing that defined even a low civilisation.

"There is nothing that is ours, all has been altered, and nothing that is familiar, we are no longer in the universe of our own, we are in theirs." She gestured to the UCAF officer.

"That means... this isn't... but."

"Accept the fact that this is no trickery, haven't your psykers and sensitive capable subordinates not felt it as well? There is nothing, emptiness a void of all things warp. It is difficult to even read a mind; we can barely locate each other without attempting to focus even harder."

The Inquisitor turned about to his subordinates, he then agreed.

"We have noticed, there is a lack, or void of what there should be."

Davian asked.

"Then if this is not our universe… then where is this? And who controls what."

"The people that are currently present, and their enemies, we have nothing to add to this predicament." 

The fleet of imperial ships seemed to be rather concerned, the evidence was clear, nothing seemed to add up, no warp and no proper psykers, even the assassins brought along seemed to have difficulties trying to sense the warp.

"Well if that's so, then why bring one of their brethren into the event?" Gabriel asked.

"Our warp drives are non-functional and so are yours, we have no means of leaving the system." She replied.

Suddenly Cartwright understood what the eldar were after.

"You want us to provide your vessels with our slip-space technologies, for absolutely nothing?" He asked.

"We implied that as soon as we began this conversation, however the situation demands that we cooperate in trying to avoid being overwhelmed by your enemies. From what your lieutenant has explained of the ONI, he stated that even the most remotely looking beings that look human are considered heretics in the eyes of the covenant." She replied.

"So where does this put us at?" Vance asked.

"It puts us in a very difficult situation, we decide to aid another race or do we not aid another race, this could be our only non-human ally in the whole galaxy. Or we could decide to simply avoid them, either way the situation is not in favour of us; the imperials would probably be suffering the same liability." Cartwright assumed.

"That assumption would be correct." The Lukas stated.

"So why should we help any of you, we know that the imperials did aid us, however that doesn't excuse the fact that you didn't exactly explain your intentions." Cartwright enquired.

The distinct pause seemed to unsettle the UCAF fleet, the imperials had been helpful, but the truth of the intentions of a race or faction is usually considered important. The eldar looked at the imperials until they decided to respond.

"I say on the behalf of all of us, our situation being altered so greatly, we'd provide our services to mankind and in return be granted amnesty in your space, and possibly the creation of a possible alliance. I'm sure that the strength of the imperium and our dedication to human survival is sufficient of aiding you in the face of adversity, there may be more than just the covenant."

Inquisitor Duren Mendel stated.

Cartwright still didn't trust the words of just the inquisition; he knew that there was more here than just a few unfriendly aliens and thoughts, but the malevolence of the imperium itself seemed more apparent now that he looked closely of the ships.

"Very well, however, I'd like to confer with the eldar, we'll give them an equal say..."

The imperial governor was about to speak out.

"...And I do not want any xenophobic comments, the UCAF has rights for other races in first contact situations, the eldar currently apply for this and we don't turn down them until our judgement."

The imperials seemed to shut up as he stated, the inquisitor smiled, he had never seen a person grant anyone, especially human amnesty and reprieve for an alien. Vance looked to see that the force commander Gabriel was in contempt of the situation.

Vance set the rally point for the fleet.

"Sir, we should link the fleet at 233-099, L1 we'd be covered by the moon while we begin our discussion."

"Right, we'll begin to move the fleet."

XXXXX

The fleet gathered in the shadow of the moon, hundreds of ships packed into a small region, the 150+ ships of the UCAF gathering with the large ships of 30 imperial vessels alongside the 5 eldar void stalkers.

The Dawn and the Honour were docked, their 20km hulls granting purchase for the other shuttles and vessels to land or approach. Inside the large docking bay the massive frames of thunderhawk transports sitting down and the elegant forms of eldar wave serpents.

The UCAF was gathered in force, 5000 troops standing inside the massive conjoined bay, the tanks and armour support waiting for the multiple sides to meet. The eldar being watched from all points, while the imperials were watched by snipers and the Marauders, both sides were uneasy with how things were to unfold, but neither wanted to start it first.

The 8ft walking super human tanks made them feel unsure, the long ranged non-linear lasers were still fresh, and many didn't like the idea of trying to take them. The Gremlin EMP cannons were aimed as well, but they had no idea how it would affect them. The scorpions and vehicles were prepared for battle, one side makes a mistake, then there was going to be more than just loud explosion.

Vance and Cartwright were with their crew, there was also the Spartan team that had been awoken from the stasis chambers of the Honour. Spartan team Blue were ready for combat, their mixed variants of the MKIV applied to them.

The Spartans had been making quite a record of battles, they were not however used for Krugis due to the timing, and the 9th was unexpected to be struck by the covenant's forces in such a way. Now with the extra time provided Admiral Cartwright ordered that they were to be active for the meeting.

The Spartans were brought to speed, a quick summary of what happened and why they are needed and then they were off to the meeting. Himitsuki the leader of blue team was currently observing the eldar in detail while his subordinates dealt with watching the imperium.

The white armoured Spartan of the honourable vindicators watched from his Hayabusa MKIV at the approaching aliens, they seemed more human than alien, but he could tell the difference, taller in some ways and far more pronounced by the armour they wore.

They noted the lieutenant that was captured was standing next to the farseer, his armour was gone, but he still had his uniform attached. He looked slightly miffed, the soldier was acting oddly like a pet to its owner, and the farseer ensured that he stayed in proximity to her.

Himitsuki had nothing against the eldar, however being like most soldiers who've been fighting the war; they all disliked being in proximity to any non-humans at all. He made sure to restrain himself from anything hasty and made sure to cover his CO.

"So where do we begin?" Vance asked them all.

END

XXXXX

Elsewhere in the galaxy…

The distinctive hull of an old Imperator cruiser drifted through the system, its once proud bow marked by chaos and taint, but the most irrefutable marking was the crest of Slaanesh, the Mirthless Lust drifted through the system.

Inside the dark and twisted corridors sounds of pleasure and smell permeated the air, anyone who listened closely enough would hear of the words of the one being tortured over the one enjoying it. The chaos space marines that controlled the ship were of the undivided, the Word Bearers, but that did not mean that it would not be under a part of another forces control.

The Slaaneshi were thorough in producing new warriors to fill the ranks of the fallen, and thus they brought the vessel for them, to produce new warriors in an unfamiliar place. Lord Erai Soulbreaker watched with apt attention to the rituals being performed on the new recruit.

Ante chamber had the boy in a pit of lust, the living fleshy pit held prisoners inside special cages to witness the conversion, each filled with different factions of the galaxy.

Tau warriors watched in horror and revulsion, they had never seen such violation of flesh. The Imperial guardsmen watched in equal horror and revulsion, but held absolute pity for the child, the civilians were also stuffed next to them, a woman the mother of the child crying as she watched her son become a plaything for demons.

Across to another chamber, the eldar screech and howl in anger and despair, their brethren were being used for the sick act and could do little as the boy was engorged on filling their sister. The dark eldar watched in rather calm, they knew what the pleasures were like and expected this to be like any other torture of living flesh.

The space marines who had been captured couldn't believe that their gene seed was to be put to use for such heinous crimes and sick reputable acts, one sergeant was about to try and pummel the cage open, but the living chains held him at bay.

Adepta Sororitas- sisters of battle prayed that there be some hope for them, the emperor did not abandon them to such hells, but at this point in time, an uncertainty grew. One sister had already been impregnated by a candidate and was waiting for the birthing of a new recruit; they were already wondering how they could survive this living hell.

The demonettes were thorough, the boy relieved his passion once more, the teenager was finally ready for his oath, and then for the real training, one demonette named Ivasa the merciless began to remove the boy from his eldar charge.

The howling banshee crumpled to the floor exhausted from the ordeal, she was then placed into the living table of flesh where it would hold her in warm liquids until they required her once more. The boy they had was once been a noble, but he was raised as a warrior, he didn't like the title of being noble, he wanted to explore and adventure.

However his wish came true, in the worst forms, when Kronus was attacked he fought when he was only 14 and continued to fight until 15, but then the chaos champions arrived, their numbers suddenly blackening the skies above his city.

He slew a number of cultists and killed one battle brother, his skills were impressive for a 15 year old, it seemed odd to have just done him there, and his strengths could be placed in more appropriate places. So they kidnapped him and used his family and the people as leverage while they began to experiment and test him, the demonettes loved his enthusiasm, he battled them for hours.

But now it seemed as though his faith and flesh had finally given way, his strength expressed itself through his body, and began to enjoy the defilement of the enemies he was given. And now for the finishing touches. But unaware, the boy retained his soul, it wasn't blackened… yet.

Uliara the other demonette trainer released the shackles, the medical procedures of the augmentation were done, and his test completed, however he could not join the others for another 40 days. And as such he needed to be given time, it sat well with them, they'd miss their challenge, but there was something they needed from him.

Ivasa handed the boy the las pistol of the commissar they held in a chamber, he was the one who commanded him to the end. It was then that the chains opened for the cages, the doors swung open, and Uliara pointed out.

"Here's your family and here's your superior officer, we know how you loved both sides, but now you must make your decision, kill either the honourable soldier who was better than your useless father, or kill the one who loved you and gave you hope…" She giggled.

The commissar spoke out first.

"Boy, don't let them change you, you're still a soldier at heart, you can decide, you don't answer to them, and you don't answer to me, but you've got to think, remember what I taught you… an officer can make the judgements for him and his men, for better or for worse, but how he does that is dependent on his spirit his determination, everything that shapes him to be who he is." 

His mother called for him. "Son, please listen to us, they don't control you, you know better than that, and they only bring you temporary comfort, not love. They don't know who you are, they only bring to end you as whom you were, please save yourself from this hell, think about the years of your life, all that the emperor gave to us…"

His mind reflected alright, he was torn in his soul, the sounds of Slaanesh not being present, but the hisses of his overseers were, he knew that changing now would kill them all, and he couldn't have that.

He gritted his teeth, he looked at them.

"Cadus, sir, you know what you told me of the way a solider lives, he knows he will die… fighting to protect all that he is, for the corpse god or not. My soul does not belong to anyone… it is only mine."

The commissar suddenly realised that the boy knew, he had listened and he understood, the boy was still there, he wasn't taken by Slaanesh. And as he looked in those blue eyes, a flash of light.

Cadus dropped to the ground, his head with a smoking hole; he hung and then fell to the ground.

"I made my decision long ago…" He said finally.

"Good embrace your new role young one; you're going to enjoy the finer roles of being gifted by the true gods." Ivasa said cheerily.

He walked from the chamber to receive his garments, the las pistol was his now, and he'd use it when he needed to. But the soul of something still remained in his body, he wasn't going to give up, and only he knew that.

For he was Alex Connor the Defiant

XXXXX

Oh this is rather interesting

I do hope that all of you loved that because that is going to be a new character in this series, his story is called.

Rite of passage: The Lost Soul


	3. Chapter 3

CH3

XXXXX

For the greater something...

XXXXX

(I know that it's the greater good, so just get the joke and move on.)

XXXXX

The covenant carrier Divine Resolution arrived with a strike force of 250 ships into the empty region of the dead Krugis system, the scout fleet of Trepidation had been reported to have engaged the heretics in the system and was successful in the battle, until another report stated a gross underestimation of the enemy strength, their force was wiped out by mysterious predatory vessels.

Fleet master Voti'l Tol'moree headed from his quarters to the CIC, his eyes scanning the bridge, his personnel were gathering at their consoles and doing their reports for the fleet. He was not in the best of moods, the 11th scout fleet had been annihilated by the UCAF, those heretics had purged them easily, and he was beyond furious, he was enraged, but he kept that to himself, it would be unbecoming of a true soldier to reveal his nature to his subordinates.

He walked to another console, there he was recovering the recordings from one of the stealth ships that had been in the region observing the UCAF battle, the covenant had not been as ignorant in the field of espionage and recon as the humans did.

He gritted his mandibles in confusion and concern, a massive ship, armed with many weapons and defences, it was a terrifying sight for those who battled, and this ship ripped its way across their fleet and eliminated the scout fleet.

He turned to another console, he went into contact his brethren, they needed to know about this new threat that the humans had.

XXXXX

Nevada Frontier

The Nevada Frontier was the only frontier to have successfully managed to fend the covenant off from attacking, the front however was a hot zone for activities, and thus was considered only a safe haven until a major attack came.

But this was the only option the UCAF had; the 11th fleet had gathered the remaining survivors to here, the only place that had some safety until a full refit was completed. The UCAF had agreed to a very open set of rules for their 'guests', the imperium forces had gathered alongside the eldar until a fleet of refit vessels could arrive.

The fleet was inbound to the system of Hao, it was a large system that possessed over 15 planets, and over 3 dozen moons and 2 large asteroid fields, and one red giant. The system was populated by the Hao Min, a more nimble race of people who migrated during the first colonial wars.

It had been over 75 years but they remained, the UCAF had a major presence in the region and had asked the 5 colonies of Hao to abandon their homes and head to the safety of the 2nd defenders. But in their eyes, the colonies of Hao were lifeblood to a race that was driven from their homes from Hikamage and Sato and Ikani.

Dien, the main garrison for the Hao forces, and the only position in which the UCAF had some protection from covenant attack, the base was set for planned defence and offence which made it a critical strong point. Over 120,000 troops of the Hao garrison and a massive fleet of 1200 and a armed orbital stations of 15 Super MACs.

Another garrison of Han was the edge of the system, it was also of the UCAF control, but remained to keep the covenant from assaulting the system. Han garrisoned 75,000 troops and a fleet of 700 ships and 5 orbital platforms.

The fleet held itself at the Red Point Delta orbital station, the 30 ships being refitted by local teams, however without a full orbital anchor fleet for the refit there was little chance that a successful refit was unlikely to occur.

From the view of the Dawn of Days, the 20km UCAF super cruiser sitting away from the main fleet sitting in orbit above Hao was enough to ensure Vance that they were safe, the covenant had yet to appear, and that the covenant was unlikely to attack, unless they were desperate.

The only thing that ensured to Vance that the eldar and the imperium wouldn't begin to fight whilst in their space, and also to maintain a sense of control, the zealous imperials were already making the situation uncomfortable.

Almost all ASMs were active and armed; the AIs were on constant alert and scanning the imperial vessels as much to their ability. Tech-priests and tech-marines were on constant enquiries to understand the UCAF technologies and their slip-space capabilities, but also the UCAF AIs themselves.

They were thrilled to meet an AI and even converse with some of the UCAF 'adepts' to whom they discussed their differences and unique abilities. Vance had a gut feeling that there was more to the tech-priests than met the eye.

James walked through to the lower hangar of the Dawn; he was greeted by Kyle and his remaining companies of troops. They all saluted in unison and went back at ease under his order, Kyle greeted him.

"Sir, I've managed all of the 9th to 12th forces, the reports from lieutenant Duel have also been recorded, and a full review of covenant forces within the Argus VIII system. Things seem to be looking up sir, almost." He said in his more faded tone.

Vance and Kyle had known each other since childhood, and had served through the first 4 years of service and continued. But even after so much pain, they held on, now after all these years of service they had finally gathered themselves to encounter these new people.

The eldar were willing to talk and these imperials were willing to be logical, the UCAF had fought bravely and courageously to the end, and that was enough to speak in volumes to these imperials. But that didn't mean that each side was trusting, Vance had a sneaking suspicion that the imperium would soon attempt to enforce itself rather than stay in the background.

The UCAF was stretched thin, but not thin enough that they didn't know better, the help was useful, but that didn't mean that there was enough trust to fill a thimble, respect was earned by the UCAF and it had to be shown.

The UCAF acted as neutral as they could for the eldar and the imperium, and this seemed to work effectively in their favour. Vance knew that in politics things could look far grimmer than one could imagine.

He asked Kyle.

"Kyle, I need to ask you something, and I know it might not be in the best interests of the UCAF..."

XXXXX

Litany of Fury

The redemption class sat alongside the rest of the imperial fleet, and from its vast gothic structure of gargoyles and monolithic shapes of a cathedral, on the bridge of the Litany, Gabriel and Davian were conversing.

"Why should we listen to the words of such children? They themselves have already stated that the UCAF was in an alternate universe and that the warp never came into existence here, I can't see why that we should even listen to them, they may have the technologies for flight through space, but why should we listen to heretics?" Gabriel asked.

"Because brother, things are not always as they seem, the UCAF had honest intentions to help, and they stated that this system would be safe for us all to gather within, we are in their territory and their protection." Davian replied.

"That does not answer the fact that the UCAF is still those who are not devout in the eyes of the emperor; I cannot believe we should simply aid a faction of people over our beliefs."

"And that is why I draw concern, the UCAF is at war with the xeno menace and if we were to betray them things may come into a far worse conclusion for us, the covenant as they explained are far more capable than them, and they have barely managed to keep them at bay for the past 4 years, if they were to face us in sheer numbers without the UCAF, we would perish." Davian warned.

"If that were possible, I do see reason, the UCAF does provide our only means of survival in this galaxy or universe, however that does not mean all our brothers will be as equally accepting as to the outcome. And the inquisitor is even of greater concern, I cannot conclude why he would lead so many of his fellows into such a situation."

"Well that does add a sense of uncertainty, Governor Alexander will most likely try to avoid confrontation with only a hand full of remaining regiments. And so would the Adeptus Machinus, the UCAF is too rich of knowledge for them to simply abandon."

"Well we should probably gather ourselves for the meeting with the admiral, and his entire command force along with these, Spartans."

XXXXX

Taldeer stared into the open stars, her mind was attempting to experiment on going beyond the normal boundaries of her mind, however every time she attempted it there was nothing, the minds of her fellow eldar created a minor telepathic area, but that was over the entire ship, not space itself.

She could barely feel anything, the emptiness of the void is what replaced the warp, nothing, and so she tried once more, another more emotional area of her mind, and soon it hit nothing once more. She was beginning to understand that this universe was going to require something more than just psychic powers.

She looked to her quarters after another failure at searching the universe; she was greeted by her friend, a harlequin named La'shia. The colourful female simply stood there, her mask unmoving; she glanced about and took notice.

"So another empty pocket in space?" La asked.

"Yes and another record to keep in the archives of this universe, things here are far too empty, I am relieved that there are no demons to keep eternal watch of, however the emptiness has made me somewhat alone..."

"I think we all share the same sentiments farseer." La replied.

XXXXX

Hao

The shuttles descended to the planet's surface each carrying their leaders to Tiam, the UCAF had set a meeting place for all to meet for the future of events. There were some details that still needed to be confirmed and places to which either side could or could not visit.

As the shuttles or gunships arrived in the centre city of Sai, the imperials and the eldar found themselves immersed in the surprisingly large city scape of nothing short of a hive. Sai was said to have been constructed upon from its original foundation of a small city.

It was constructed downwards and upwards, the mining and industries digging into the earth and then to the skies the colonists built up a massive spiral city that then had a relay that reached the skies. The millions of inhabitants that lived in the city were quite well off.

Sai was constructed as a centre point for defence in the face of possible invasion and was also kept as a means of infrastructure for the local population. The city was just over 250km in radius and then at a maximum height of 2.5km, the UCAF used the city for over 30 years as a strong point for naval operations and deep space research into unknown space.

Now it served as a defensive position to hold back the covenant from openly attacking the UCAF. On the ground at the UCAF Command Base the shuttles touched down where Captain Vance, Admiral Cartwright and Major Kyle were waiting, there was also 500 troops and Spartan team Alpha present.

Inquisitor Duren along with his retinue disembarked and joined the imperial leaders, the Blood Raven Captain and Commander were waiting for the others to join them, a Sargent of the blood angels and 5 other commanding officers of the other factions of the other space marines arrived.

Canoness Selena and her sisters arrived in full battle armour alongside the inquisitors, who had another interesting figure; a woman dressed in a red suit with the symbol of the ordo xenos and had a sizeable force of what looked like mercenaries.

Then as the UCAF officers watched, a larger group of tech-priests arrived along with Magos Alden, they seemed more and more intrigued with the UCAF every time they were introduced to something new.

Not far behind everyone else, a full platoon of guardsmen arrived with one squad of karskins, General Stubbs and Militant Governor Lukas arrived by Valkyrie gunships. Once they had gathered the eldar wave serpent and viper escort arrived, a number of exarches watched ever so carefully for their farseer.

"So we all finally meet, welcome to the capital of Hao." Admiral Cartwright began.

They looked at him with nothing but passiveness, with the exception that the prayers of the tech-priests were slightly heard in the background. They all simply watched the admiral and the captain and his other officers.

He continued.

"As you already know, firearms are only restricted to the person and I should ask you to keep weapons on safety, if there is such a setting, we don't need accidents whilst in the city, I can assure you that its unnecessary for active weapons.'

They all agreed and checked, a few clicks, but he wasn't so sure, he doubted that many of them actually turned safety on. But he had little choice, they continued once more.

"Okay, well a small introduction into our quaint little city shouldn't be so difficult, we should warn you that in the eyes of the public you technically are from another region of space, and to the public the eldar are here on negotiations. The public knows less of what's actually going on, so please refrain from interacting as little as possible, exception is when we arrive at the Academy." He stated.

They all nodded and he began the tour.

XXXXX

The city was in truth very large, quite large, and larger than that of most other hives, but the sheer scale of length made the city shorter than it actually looked. The sky scrapers were only 2.5km in height and were dwarfed by the massive orbital elevator.

On the train that they were aboard, this was used by the UCAF to shuttle troops from destination to destination across the city. The train served now for a simple tour for the UCAF to whomever they were trying to impress or transport.

As they arrived at the academy, they were greeted by a massive structure that ran in seven massive triangles that surrounded a cylindrical core which connected to each region of the city, it served as a rapid deployment for the UCAF troops in case of defence for the city.

This was just one of the 3 academies stationed in the city, one to the south and another to the west, each were in almost equal size; however the east base was set into the deepest regions of the city and set next to the ONI base.

As the train stopped at the barrack grounds they arrived at a large gathering of troops, they exited to see a mass of troops covered in armour, the base was like many of the UCAF academies. They were created to similar sizes and shapes; the academy was over 5km in radius and possessed over 70,000 training facilities.

The academy trained over 140,000 a semester, the training facility proved to be an effective in design. The many trainees and marines and academics saluted as they walked down the aisle, the area was covered in over 40,000 persons there to meet the Admiral and the 'guests'.

As they walked down Gabriel asked Vance.

"Why are there so many of your soldiers here for?"

Vance replied humorously.

"This is simply a show of force set aside by the ONI, this is nothing really, but a formal invitation for the public, just to reassure people that this was a legitimate event, the public is mostly these trainees, but it would still count for the media to think that nothing was actually wrong."

The Blood Ravens knew of politics and hated the most of such things; as long as the people felt safe then they had no problems to simply ignore them. The delegates continued to move, they arrived at the entrance where another soldier was waiting, most likely the commander of the base.

The young officer saluted.

"Sir, Lieutenant Earl Hark, I'll be guiding you through the academy, just follow behind me." He said.

They walked to the entrance they were greeted by the sight of a massive lobby, the other personnel were doing their usual routine and simply staring at times as they passed by, and the majority of the personnel were outside for this section of the wing.

After a short look about the lobby they entered the lift to the recruiting field, there the many troops being selected were being tested and checked, younger marines being sent over obstacles. They watched the young recruits running the gauntlet, auto-turrets and stun traps activated around the ankles of youth.

They ran even under fire, street scenarios and open field scenarios made them work in near hostile like environments. The UCAF had ensured to train soldiers were prepared in the field, even though that they weren't.

The marauders were the only greatly skilled force above that of the standard UCAF marine and the ODST and ADST; the marauders were also the best of the best for ground operations. Once they passed the initial training grounds they arrived at the recruitment drive.

There they found their way to the rooms where they were being taught, young children just under 12 or 13 learning to disassemble weapons and learn how to maintain them and adapt them for combat purposes; masses of diagrams and holographic images displayed the means of use.

"Here are our more youthful agents; they learn academic skills as well as military, as per the UCAF policy for those who agree to join the war effort at youth. They remain as capable as any soldier and will be as capable as any commando in the field once they're finished." He explained.

They could see the children, some had already scars and markings, others had looked as determined to learn to fight as others, these were war orphans trained to begin a new life as soldiers, they hated everything about the covenant and were sworn to fight them.

The space marines looked intrigued by these youngsters, there had been dozens of records of youth who had joined the war in the imperium and had willingly thrown themselves at the enemy. But these were scarred and prepared to fight, they had lived to fight to die and then to join their families once more.

Hark moved to the next batch of rooms, there they witnessed the dissection of enemy corpses and the medical procedures for their own, the UCAF had medical officers and medics to learn to know the differences and be able to determine the most effective means to killing their opponents.

Continuing on they arrived at the engineering bay of the UCAF science teams and mechanical workshops, there the UCAF testers and engineers went to work on the new engines and equipment needed by their marines.

AIs were something new to the imperial forces as they encountered many sentient machines which seemed to talk back to them. They were greeted by the sight of Mia, the twin sister of another AI called Lia who was in command of the wing that they were walking through.

"Welcome to the UCAF level 3 wing 4 sections 3, this is the recreation and relaxation centre for all marines returning from active duty on the front lines, would you like me to guide you?" She asked.

The others couldn't respond in time before the Magos and his adepts said.

"Yes machine spirit, please enlighten us to what you know."

"Very odd, okay, we begin down by going to the left wards of the medical treatment wing then to the machine shops where the 8th and 12th armoured divisions currently wait. Please follow me."

She gestured to a sliding door.

They didn't want to be rude but the Magos and his adepts seemed to have an addiction to all the new technologies available to them, they were going crazy trying to grasp everything the UCAF had to offer to them, an escape from their shells into pure machine like intelligence and with sentient thoughts, it seemed wondrous.

As they walked to the medical wing they got to witness some of the more rarer events, there were hundreds of containment chambers, each holding an individual person inside, each were motionless and in complete slumber.

"Here we see the UCAF Medical Staff of the Hyperion Corporation that must begin these difficult issues in containment and treatment of the new marauders, these are slightly augmented troops, they require the utmost attention in their treatments." She explained.

They were watching the augmentation of children into what looked like the marauders of Krugis, the only difference being that they were not armoured or looked any different from the average marine. But still they looked capable in lethal form, even if it wasn't technically prepared.

The thing that had the space marines suddenly curious as to what was happening, Gabriel asked the lieutenant.

"Are these soldiers recruited amongst those who are selected or are the chosen through battle?"

She looked at him and then replied, somewhat sombrely.

"All units of the marauders utilise certain marines to enhance and improve upon their capabilities, once they pass the trials of course."

"Trials?" Cannoness Selena asked.

The others were curious as to what these marauders were like.

"The marauders are... special, as you may have noticed on the field, they utilise suicide tactics, and hold the line, and search and destroy, the marauders use a many types rifles and weapons, they're specialised in being unpredictable and lethal at the same time. And as such the trials must take place after they're over 12, for one year if they survive they'd end up here, and then they continue to fight, this means that they'd require more enhanced strength, and thus the N.1 program began."

She explained.

Mia continued on with the tour, soon the group arrived at the machine shops, hundreds of white coats and many black dressed uniformed troops, the UCAF engineers were testing new light wave barrier shields and mass linear drivers.

Mia explained the experiments and testing grounds.

"All UCAF engineering requires the most up to date pieces of technologies, and require them to build new technology, the UCAF scientists develop all sorts of theoretical technology and equations possible means of defeating the covenant."

The magos couldn't help but wonder.

"Is there a means of keeping your engineers restrained from making possible deviations?"

"Yes, that's a bit more complicated, the area we're currently looking at is the lower levels safety here is at its basic due to the simplicity, this is only section 3, we are far from the main core of 7, it was required that no one, except the UCAF have access to those levels." Mia replied.

"What is on level 7?" Davian asked.

"The core, the main heart of the complex, it also happens to be the mainframe of the UCAF defences and tactical grids, in case of unknown attack, the cores are ejected and sent over to an extraction team which have special ONI ships in specific locations, it's the only way to ensure that all data is not taken by the enemy." She responded automatically.

The proceeded to the next section, the massive training zones, there they encountered the massive training field.

"Here we have the main training grounds, over 10,000 are trained and prepared here in a 6 month period, and then they are sent to the fleet or the marauders to continue their training and experience in combat for another 1 year before a full ceremony into the forces."

"You send white shields into the field at their age?" Governor Alexander asked with some surprise.

"Yes, as a necessity the UCAF has almost no choice, as the fleets of over 150,000+, we are required to send an additional 750 million into the war and hold back any possible attacks on the colonies, this tactic has by far drawn the covenant juggernaut into a near standstill, but it has been exhausting."

They were surprised, 150,000 ships just for a few light years, and over 750 million to cover the entire region, that must have been almost equal to a crusade force, but what did that mean about the covenant.

Gabriel asked.

"If you have 750 million fighting on the front lines, then what is the size of the covenant forces?"

"Somewhere between 2 to 3 billion in number, give or take a few million that die almost daily, the enemy may be numerous, but the UCAF is always resilient." She replied.

The colonists holding back the equivalent of almost 2 crusade forces is no small feat, if their statistics were accurate, then the UCAF was definitely capable. Gabriel didn't need to ask the AI or the lieutenant, there was no need.

"So, let's continue to the next level, shall we? I hear that dinner is ready to be served to us, in formal A1."

XXXXX

Outskirts of the Hao system

Voti'l Tol'moree, watched from the bridge of the Divine Resolution, his mind flared to think of what his enemies may be doing. The fleet he had was over 750 ships, but it still wasn't enough, don't think of the UCAF as weak like their pitiful brethren the UNSC.

The UCAF had been far more advanced in shield technologies and FTL since before the start of the war, and that was the problem, the enemy was far more capable than what was initially believed. And now 4 years in and only 6 light years from the ruins of Prodigal system, the UCAF holds and stems the covenant with sheer ability.

Voti'l Tol'moree was not disillusioned that the UCAF could hold him even with the numbers, but a precise strike on the new arrivals would be enough, the UCAF had other priorities as it was, But the main force was on Diem, but an external force remained on Han, from what the scout fleets reported the fleets were both too large to deal with, and it would require an entire crusade fleet.

Voti'l knew that the UCAF was going to hold them off even if they bring in enough troops, but the majority of the forces were spread out too thin, the UCAF had scattered the major crusade forces across over 20 light years across. Some fleets were chasing ghost forces or dead worlds, it was enough to drive more than 1500 commanders insane, and the UCAF was the determined to fight.

Voti'l knew how to drive the enemies into the ground, a frontal assault using a diversion to draw the forces from the Diem garrison and hopefully get them to defend all the habitable worlds. The main force would remain on a passive position and then attack Diem.

This was going to require a direct approach, if things were going as they were; the battle was going to be a challenge of will. Voti'l Tol'moree the fleet master of the fleet of Reverent Divinity, he was to purge these scum for the death of his brothers.

XXXXX

Tiem: Academy lower levels

The group arrived at the 5th level, this was used by the ONI, office of naval intelligence, and here the UCAF had gathered them into a private room to begin their finalisation of the treaty. The UCAF had them sign the treaty and have a crowd of troops and some politicians who had been available for the signing.

The ONI level was used due to its security and its common use, they did the signing in about 5-10 minutes, the whole thing was a show for democracy and for the public mind, and once it was secure the UCAF would contact the rest of the colonies.

The morale boost would be good; at least some people that weren't human join the people and the imperium including them into the whole force. But that didn't dismiss the fact that the enemy was still out there.

They were meeting outside in the garden level, the private place held 100m of all kinds of plants and vegetation to make it more homely. The UCAF had begun to serve lunch, which was sort of awkward for those not the similar height and strength as the space marines.

Spartans and space marines were sharing a table elsewhere. Himitsuki had to wear more formal attire however, it was uncomfortable somewhat, the Vindicator Cloak and overlaying dress covered over his armour plates, the suit was meant to be a symbol of honour and duty.

His helmet was ornamented with silver patterns and blue illuminated lines and eyes, his face was revealed thanks to the detachable face plate. But that didn't mean that he was happy or welcoming of the idea of eating with the space marines or the eldar.

Gabriel had his armour cleaned and slightly polished, but it remained scratched and worn in the joints, he didn't pay heed to the details but it kept him well enough. He noticed the slight uncomfortable feelings from the Spartan; his gaze was direct and usually unbreakable.

There was no tension in the air, however the attitude shown by the Spartans suggested uncertainty, they had other priorities and this was one, but that didn't mean they agreed to it or liked it. The imperial forces were enjoying the hospitality of the Tiem delicacies and foods, along with the eldar.

Neither side spoke much outside of their little discussion bubbles, Kyle was curious about the eldar; he wondered what they planned to do soon. His thoughts were shared by Stubbs and Vance, and were then picked up upon by the eldar farseer.

Taldeer asked as she picked at a small steamed dumpling.

"Is there something you'd wish to ask me Major?"

The soldier bundled out of his mind and realised she had noticed his train of thoughts, he answered.

"Um yes, the UCAF had signed the treaty for you to inhabit any system in the region, however you hadn't specified where you would like to go."

Taldeer replied ever so calmly yet directly.

"We have our reasons mon'keigh, there are only the worlds that are up to our requirements that we shall single out, though we doubt that the UCA government would agree to our selection."

"Try me, what world did you want?" He replied as a challenge.

She replied tersely. "The world called Aiden Light."

He paused and realised which world she had just said, Aiden, the gates of the Venerated, the holy eyes of light and faith, and the very world that the Vindicators had sworn to ever protect. It happened to be the rarest garden world in existence, and the most beautiful and untouched, it had only 7 cities and only a population of all vindicator class of the Hikamage people.

"You have to be pushing your luck, only 3 garden worlds that rare and you choose the very world which in the eyes of religious people is sacred. You know that the high lord of the vindicator order wouldn't allow this, not even for a treaty." He stated very cautiously.

The table had turned somewhat quiet.

"Well that isn't the reason for why we chose the world, Aiden's Light maybe religious, but from what my sisters had said when they were inspecting, they were intrigued by the mysterious remarks of the Ascendants..."

"That's well out of your reach Farseer, the Ascendants of Aiden is a top level project and only very few actually know about it. And that planet is inhabited by the Ascendants for the very purpose of mankind; even I'm not allowed to disclose information of what goes on there." Kyle replied/

"Which is why we are intrigued, you state on your codex that the planet is nothing more than a religious sanctuary and yet you hide far more than you state."

"That's secret even on our level, it has an Alpha class clearance that only section 7 can provide and that is very high, even for any officer, only the Commander in Chief, Administrator and Supreme commander have access to that type of intelligence." Admiral Vance stated.

"So then how do you know about project Ascension?" She asked with a grin.

He froze, he should have known better than to have been here.

"So, I guess that means that you should already know about Rey? And the Adepts?" He asked.

"You mean shadow sword and the white fang, then yes, your mind enlightened me to some rather interesting details. I had never taken the fact that the UCAF practices such methods of warfare, or the involvement of innocents." She stated.

"The UCAF does what it must in the face of extermination, and even the Imperium would understand, however you are correct, the Ascension project is still not prepared nor is it ethical, or even moral."

"But it is still necessary?"

That was when Major Kyle interjected.

"Sir I think enough is enough, we have no obligation to speak of the Advents, even if they are part of your concern, they are not ready."

"Then when will they be?"

"When things go to the most desperate point of the war, then you'll know."

XXXXX

Hao

Orbit over Han

The planetary garrison held vigil over the local sub-space networks, the chance that the covenant might attack, and the troops on duty watched the skies. The marines there had years of training and knew exactly when to withdraw or to fallback, and when the enemy came.

And that was when the sound of alarms began to blare.

The troops on the observation decks of the ODPs began to scramble to their fighters, marines running to battle stations. Troops kept their eyes out for what might be on approach. Scopes monitored the slip-space reactions sudden radiation spikes sent the AIs aboard the ships to begin preparing to fire.

MACs charged their main guns, all aimed for whatever may have been on approach, the slip-space rifts revealed a significant fleet. One that was equal to garrisoned forces, the UCAF fleet engaged, and sent an emergency signal back to command, if the covenant had arrived, then it was time for a fight, winter contingency had been initiated.

XXXXX

XXXXX

Tiem: Section 6

After the eventful dinner the group was being treated to the experience of the new project that had been divulged, the Advents were busy, bit not their siblings. The adepts, the adepts were not part of the Machinus they were an independent faction.

These adepts were of psychic capabilities, and some even had machines installed into their bodies to aid them in battle, they had a reputation for causing as much damage as possible with their powers. And as such things like telepathic capabilities came into effect and even the ability to use foresight, the ability to see into the future while in combat.

The Librarian Sunnis asked why these adepts were as they were; it was kind of hard to explain the fundamentals of something that was as complex as the forerunner powers. The inherited powers came from their ancestors the forerunners, which granted the adepts some sorts of quantum energy fusion and used in powers such a nano reconstruction and manipulation.

The adepts and ONI couldn't reveal anything more than that, seeing as two things happened, they refused to explain and that alarms went off all over the network.

"Winter Contingency is now in effect, covenant attack imminent, repeat covenant attack imminent, all personnel to their stations, prepare for combat."

The marines rushed to their stations, troops armed with rifles and carbines, some armoured units and troops hurrying from their duties to combat ready stations. The Covenant were attacking and they needed to fight back, hundreds of troops hurried from place to place and prepared.

The imperial forces headed back to their ships as soon as they could, troops on the ground were already heading to the nearest fighter or drop-ship ready for battle. The covenant attack was soon to be followed up by surprise attacks on other places; this was as per usual methods.

XXXXX

Once all members were aboard their ships, they were asking for firing solutions and tactics, however the UCAF had other plans, and they knew before hand of what was going to happen.

"All of you need to remain outside of their firing range, covenant and UCAF ships have over twice your firing range, even as ours might not be as powerful, but covenant ships have an edge, 400 ships against only 40 aren't going to end well for you, and even with our defences. The refits are almost completed; our AI teams and navigation teams are still trying to get your ships adjusted."

Gabriel argued.

"What have we remained in the rear lines? While you and your brothers throw their lives away, that are not within our doctrine, sacrificing your men for us is a dishonour to us."

"And dying for a lost cause is even worse, the UCAF was already under siege in this region, Krugis was on the first line and then us, so get over the fact, we're going in, and you need to get out. The navigation teams needs time to get you clear, if you remain here, the covenant will focus all their strengths here, and then what?" Admiral Cartwright said.

The imperial forces gritted their teeth, the UCAF sacrifice for them, where they'd be successful, but there was truth, the covenant would bring more and more to take them down if they presented a greater threat.

They might bring in a HK force and those fleet carry covenant Juggernauts, a threat that the UCAF was dreading; the covenant only used them to bring out troops of such calibre when they located a place of great importance or the demons.

The UCAF was sending the Dawn of Days and the rest of the 11th back into the stable lines, where the covenant had not yet to attack, and was less under threat. The system they'd be entering would be the Eveis.

XXXXX

On the eldar void stalker, the engineering teams were having a nightmare trying to get a proper calibration, but it was running well. Just that how to fit a fusion core into a ship with a massive core wasn't fun, not for the engineering team or the technicians or the bone singers, a drama seemed to follow every change.

"Hey don't touch that, the fusion coils aren't fully charged, those are needed to vent out the extra heat, or energy." A young tech said.

"Then what should I do, wait for you to blow our ship to pieces Mon'keigh?" An annoyed bone singer asked.

"No, just wait, Earl needs to get the calculations completed the calibrations aren't simple, we can't deviate anything less than a trillionth of that bleeding number." He explained jumping onto the machine's back.

He began to get the charge ready, the engine cores were prepared, and all he needed was the calculations.

"Earl you ready?" He asked over the com.

"All systems are check, beginning in 3, 2, 1..."

The void stalkers vanished in simultaneous blasts of radiation, and soon engulfed in portals into slip-space, the ships would dive into the oblivion and exit out at their destination.

XXXXX

Votil was never to gain his vengeance that day, but he would in the near future, from here on, the war had only begun. Hao would not fall either, but it was still a significant battle, the pursuing covenant may have lost their sights on the new fleet, but there was still plenty of opportunities that remained.

After weeks hiding in the Eveis system and regrouping, the UCAF designated a world for the eldar to have called Aisa; here they were granted a home and Regis, the home system of the Advent Crusaders, where they'd agree to have them live on the same world as the powerful army.

Taldeer had gone into seclusion entrusting her fellow warriors and Exarch' to continue their duty in aiding the UCAF, she and her warlocks went to Reverence to practice the new powers that the advents offered the eldar.

It would be years until she returned. In the mean time, many higher leaders had to command what was left of their race, however only completed their contract of defence rather than aiding fully in the war.

They had instead begun to review a policy of re-population, it was a difficult decision, some concerns of Slaanesh still remained, but without the warp their strict doctrine was partially released in the time of need. The population only rose at a minimal pace, and thus caused some concern.

The less the troops available meant that it was difficult to defend all of their space, they called for aid from the UCAF once more in 2531, the UCAF send hundreds of thousands of trainable soldiers, they'd be as close defenders to the planet.

The imperium had similar difficulties, they requisitioned troops from the colonies, but only so many were granted, the culture clash however began to take a toll upon the troops. UCAF marines refused to accept the belief of the Emperor and the imperium.

This lasted until priest Jurgen Overtis had to base what he knew to be more flexible, though the beliefs took a slow process to actually be implemented. It was the only way to keep some kind of normality for the Imperials.

The sisters of battle were happy to try to convert those to the imperial belief, and it was a tiring effort, sisters were going about on conversion attempts over the systems, which were overtaxing the imperial forces to send ships with them.

The youth were not compelled to join their religion otherwise, the imperialists were not very happy with the outcome the more they tried. The only people to whom they appealed to were the soldiers of the UCAF, but that was only on the more comical side, the UCAF had little interests in utter xenophobia.

Some wanted to reform the beliefs to allow universal understanding and belief, but it was a hopeless thing, the imperialists said it would be nothing short of heresy and thus it was not to be changed, unless a proper exception was made between all those affiliated.

The imperium inhabited a world called Talden IV, an agricultural world, situated on the far corner of the UCAF space, it happened to be one of the hardest to reach, and the population was a small colony, only 2.1 million, the colony happened to be quite respectable in the eyes of the imperials.

The sisters set up a monastery on the main capital city, they set this out to ensure any who sought them, knew where to look, the city had the majority of its people having to adapt to the sudden change brought about by the imperials.

Not many were absolutely happy with this, but as long as no major incident ever occurred the people were happy, just not building massive structures that the imperials wanted. They'd have to get others to do that.

The librarian Sunnis had left the Blood ravens along with another and all the imperial psykers and navigators to seek out the power that the UCAF had called the advent gifts. These powers could only be found on Reverence where Taldeer and her fellow seer council were.

It was hard to determine what they were doing, but it was to grant them access to the powers wielded by the forerunners and the adepts. But it would be years until they returned from their isolation and seclusion that they'd gain a power that had never been seen before.

It left only the Chaplain and over 200+ blood ravens without another commander and left the many imperial forces with only 1/10th of their officers gone. Though it wasn't much of a hindrance it was still hard to recover from such numbers.

Inquisitor Mendel was the only one not to leave his detachment, as his duties in hunting the threats of the covenant, but chaos was still here. And he knew that their fleet was somewhere in the region, they'd just need to hunt for it.

XXXXX

2531

Strathal Colt

The winds misty with moist air, it was hard to imagine a better world to live on, this place was a testament to dreary and wet. But on this wet and water logged world there was life, a young woman clad in a silvery grey clothes and a waterproof cloak walked in through the rain, her coat condensing as she walked through the mist.

She arrived at her home, stark white metal walls and grey plated metals and the warm sun set windows, and she opened the door with her mag card. Upon entering she withdrew her cloak and called.

"Tom, I'm home." Angela cooed.

There was a bit of noise as the door to the front porch where all the shoes lay opened with a smooth slide. There he stood, a brown haired teen about 19, soon 20, after 2 years of serving together, Tom Liam decided to take a reprieve from his duties, along with his new fiancé.

"So, how was your time at the new monastery of Saint Tarethrea?" He asked.

The ex-sister of battle replied.

"Fine, not that many people came anyway, the new pilgrims from Talden have been going at it again, trying to argue something with having to listen to all the finer details of service, those girls can cause quite a cacophony." She sighed.

"Well hearing cacophony, what about a good cup of coffee? Still have the pot warmed, and I'm sure that your sisters should be arriving soon."

"Oh right, Sister Superior Mathiea, I forgot, did…"

"I have the stove on with the roast and the set table, don't worry marauder habits are hard to drop, and being prepared is what we're good for." He smiled.

"Which is the reason why I married you, thanks honey."

"Well don't call me that yet, we're still a week out from the marriage." He exclaimed humorously.

This was just one of those days…

A greater universe!

XXXXX

Can Life Bloom? (Just a bit of an additional thing to add) So what happens when no longer being in contact with Slaanesh and being isolated in a universe that was very different? You get romance drama and a lot of rude remarks! Come on a journey to see what happens with two different stories of two demons set apart from each other.

A week without proper showers or good clothes or even nice foods or the fact the very warp can be quite stressful, especially for demonettes.

And thus it leads to….

A small dish of metal embedded itself into the wall, and an angry growl came from the opaque coloured woman with a metal gloved hand and horns.

"You're telling me that you don't want to follow us any more sister?" Lady Kaida asked scrupulously, her tone was laced in fury.

Her sister Lady of thought, Jualia replied tersely in the most sarcastically laced tone.

"What and enjoy starving to death? The food stores only have another year at best, and local animals aren't that appealing when we have to hunt for them, one of my scouts tell me that there's farming communities all over the place and a handful of good cities on this warp void planet. If you think I'd waste another year sitting on my good smooth rear end wasting away in this pot, you've have to been worse than Arhiman and his denial of being warp frakked from all those fumes."

"Humph, this is an insult to injury, we barely have any sisters remaining and without the great prince we're stuck at being mortal, heck some of the others have already begun to revert to mortal forms and some have changed so much that we've had the serfs trying to redraw all out clothes." She continued.

Kaida replied.

"Then the more reason to stay together, we can pool resources, and I intend to improve our conditions over time, besides this abandoned valley mine with all these old structures could become a new monument for our dearly missed master."

"Master? Haven't you heard from the khorne festering psykers? There's not a whisper of the warp, not a drop of pleasure comes from our pain, all our senses are reverting to normality and the idea of pleasure is costing us resources, we've tossed half of our last batch of wine because we pleasured and indulged, you can stay here and try to build something, but I'm taking all those who want to live in a place where we can at least live." Jualia stated with sarcasm and hysteria.

"Bah, fine, take your ideals with you, at least I'll try to remain with what I have, you can take your sisters, but no more than 1 slave, your serfs and that's it. You wanted to leave, I'll see to it that you are burdened with enough force to have you crawling back and begging." Kaida sneered.

"We shall see sister we shall see." Jualia replied with adamant repose.

The two left the house of worn bricks and headed to their metal bunks, only in the morning would one stand triumphant.

XXXXX

Jualia gathered her remaining followers, those who remained loyal to her cause, she had only 12 fellow demonettes and about 4 serfs and 1 eldar banshee who they had personally enthralled, though the charms had been lost and now she was as annoying to have around.

"So, we head to the north, as it says on this old map, there's a community that has everything we need, seeing as this is over 50 years old. But we need to be subtle, coerce the people into following us, and have they listened to what we need, enthral them through perversion and we should succeed in getting what we need." She explained.

"Enthral with simple pleasures and conversion? Sister, have you lost your warp frakking mind? We don't have power here, and that's why we have problems with this 'pig'." One demonette gestured to the tied banshee sitting in a cage.

"Well I figured that, but who says we need to enthral an entire city or town? I sent one scout ahead of us, a young maid who likes to find pleasures have already stated, she has found our ticket to a good life, an open hostel, home to half a dozen young teens who have started a farm and its for those less fortunate. They're vacant, and of course we shouldn't just go knocking on their doors, but I know a trick or two." She smiled.

They didn't like the idea of leaving, but if Jualia had an idea, it was usually well planned, and well thought out, but that didn't ease their minds that everything would go fine. They had no choice in that matter; she was their cell's leader.

XXXXX

Kaida was not happy, she knew that this ridiculous gamble at change was tantamount to treason, but her sister insisted on being difficult. Kaida was now losing another 12+ from a dwindling 76 demonettes that remained. Only 250 remaining serfs and barely and reliable troops, the valley in which they were stuck within was an abandoned mining community, once inhabiting the valley for resources until a conflict years back had sent the people away.

The valley had everything that the Slaaneshi required to survive, but that was the problem, they were surviving, not enthralling or subverting or even thriving, they just remained in a passive state. And it was driving her sisters into their own areas of interest; none wanted to worship their lord.

And now this, it was going to get worse before it got better, and soon she'd be writing tax reforms and all sorts of boring tasks at the rate she was going. And she probably would have to start building something from this wreck of a town.

She had dozens of her sisters hunting and gathering, but it wasn't enough, supplies had to be grown and harvested, and none of them knew the first thing when it came to survival in deep forests. So they needed muscle and skills, and good healthy workers, she knew she had a plan, but it might take years to accomplish, and she knew that the goal would be arduous.

But it had to be worth the effort, or she and her kin would be doomed.

XXXX

Next morning, things seemed quiet as the group of demonettes boarded their transport rhino; even with the roaring engines of the jittery old machine the place was dead calm. Jualia stepped on the now unmarked vehicle, her skin colour human and her horns hidden from sight, she and her sisters all looked as close to human as possible, and for good reasons.

Kaida appeared and jeered.

"So now you think you can trick those with simple garbs and make up? Ha, you can tell one human from another sister, I doubt you'll make much of one."

"You can laugh, but I know some place better than here, and we're going to enjoy our new home, good luck trying to thrive in absolution and isolation, I do hope you don't burn the valley in your ignorance."

"Very funny, now please get the hell of my land Julia."

The rhino was already kicking back and treading its way over the dawn.

Jualia thought. 'So she did remember my name.'

XXXXX

Another 4 hours later...

The rhino was arriving at its final destination, warm beaches, fine forests and trees, and a better looking road for once. Julia, as she now went by led her band of sisters to their new home, a large hostel with only so many inhabitants and a good beach side view with good food and nice beds.

She contacted the owners through a vox frequency and asked what the cost of living there was, and they said it was an open house for those who have no homes. All the inhabitants now were just teenage males who had been commissioned by the military and they were there with younger brothers or one with a trade.

It made this perfect for the demon sisters to act like refugees without a home and simply stay at one where they'd never be bothered again. Julia was looking forwards to meeting these males, and getting her scout back, that girl never ceased to astound her.

Another few hours later and they were in view of a place called, Cal Haven Bay, it was over 20kms of beaches and sunny sanded bays, and the largest fishing community on the planet, which made it a tourist attraction, but recently there's been a subtle mood in the region of space and the regular trips here had declined to a moderate.

Which is why in more recent years some places for refugees or those who had been displaced ended opening shop here, it was the quietest place to live and frankly the most affordable. As the rhino passed the shops and houses, the ladies made sure to keep to themselves, no need to attract unwanted attention.

They reached the road that lead to the bay where the hostel was, which took a few more minutes and then a left turn into a carved out wall of a large plateau. They ended up in a wonderful white sand bay, water in the bay and natural walls of rock that surrounded the place.

A small farm with large stalks and some strange beasts in a pen, the rhino grinded to a halt as it reached the front entrance. A car park and a group of people waited, all of them exactly as the scout proclaimed, young and smart and usually workers.

Julia stepped from the side of the transport and greeted her new hosts.

"Hello, I'm Julia Selena Hara, I came as I said I would, those are my sisters and let me say, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."

The oldest amongst the group, with a bionic eye and a prosthetic leg returned her courtesy.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, I'm Kardel Andre, my name is in reverse so call me either one, never had a last name. These are my brothers, all of which come from varying backgrounds and I think that is your sister who is over on the porch." He said gesturing to the young lady with purple hair and tanned skin and black skirt.

"She's a bit odd, her teeth are a bit jagged and Kal said she's going to need to see a proper dentist, he put some braces, but she's going to need more than just a simple rework." He said.

"No need, we'll do it later, Basel come over here." She shouted.

The young tan girl hopped over to greet her mistress, and she knew better than to give anything away.

"Yes sister?" She asked.

"Help our sisters get the luggage off of the rhino, we're going to stay here, and there's that special little thing we need you to help with, remember?" She winked.

"Yes ma'am." Basel said hopping along.

Anthony asked Julia.

"So shall we begin the tour?"

XXXXX

2531- Eureka VII

Kaida had spent the last 3 years in luck and wonder, her sisters had long since left, but change had occurred in such short time. She looked out into the community town that had formed over the past 2 years since arriving on this world called Eureka; it was a wealth for resources and those resources she discovered.

Now a mine had been formed and the ore removed, hundreds of tons used to construct the city that they lived in. This city was no bigger than a town, but it still had a significant population, the thousands moving here to help build.

The demonette had made sure to change the colour of her skin and pass the notice along, all looked human now, but also they looked like they belonged, no horns had a bit of a bitter effect, but they at least looked like no one would notice.

Now with the city become more and more like one, thousands of refugees arrived, she didn't like the idea, but things settled well. It took a bit of explaining how she and her people arrived, but she simply stated an accident over a while ago and presented some evidence, the UCAF wasn't there, and the local police seemed okay to have the land owned by her.

And thanks to the local land ownership rights, the loophole of owning land once abandoned fell to her, and now she owned a valley, with her sisters. Pleasures weren't as possible thanks to the influx of people, but it was enough that she and her sisters would soon have a place to themselves, without the necessary work involved.

She happily sipped some Euros wine and sat reading some news over a holographic pad called a Nova Tool. She was busying herself in all kinds of political meetings executive meetings all kinds of things a couple of years back she never would have ever thought to involve herself in, but no it had to happen, and the stress was annoying her.

She simply sat back and rested her head, her blonde hair falling in a waterfall, she seemed to be tired, after this day and almost every other day, and she was feeling the brunt of exhaustion. She couldn't help but wonder what her sister Juala was doing, she couldn't possibly do any better than her.

The city she began had taverns and one club, but not as popular except the drinks, these people were up tight with their moral choices, only the younger marines which had family migrating here seemed to have something to enjoy.

These bachelors had never enough time to enjoy the usual things except the hubbub of brothers waiting to get shipped to death. And thus it had a lasting effect that things were never bright for these troops, they'd die and their families would be left behind. And so they'd take time to visit places to waste their fears away.

But still the noise sights and sounds, nothing was as great, but she still wondered what her sister was doing, even if she drank half the bottle.

XXXXX

Eureka VII 2531

Cal Haven Bay-

Julia let the sun shine on her skin, her usual opaque coloured skin; she soaked up as much of the sun as she could. Her horns were sticking out and she couldn't help but feel happier, things had kicked off in such a short period of time, the meeting and greetings, joyous meals, and new jobs.

Julia was still thinking about her relaxation, even when one of the teens, a boy named Alan Unan appeared, he simply jumped into the rock pool, avoiding splashing the demonette. Things couldn't have been better, even the secret had been revealed and things were good.

A short explanation to what exactly happened, a year back an accident revealed the form of her sister and then the boys found out, and the funny part was that the sister who was revealed had a crush on the boy.

Since then the two were a couple, and none of them judged the Slaaneshi, which they kept as a private secret. Anthony wasn't as happy, but he was contempt to live with them, after that, things had fallen to a sense of normality.

The only thing that they had to look out for was guests and visitors, the bay may not always seemed active, and however there were the occasional visitors that came. Her sisters were having the time of their lives, almost, the smartest out of them, Anrisa the thoughtful, was writing erotica and romance novels.

Arella the seducer was doing designer dresses, they weren't perfect, but they suited the beach. The third was Chacendra the Illusive, who was drinking wine and cooking, and was helped by her boyfriend named Tyrol.

And then the Usara the Utilising, she seemed to be interested in work; she was trying to get into a law firm in the local city. The new city that was forming in the valley where their other sisters were living, they never talked but plenty if news came from the city.

Julia simply enjoyed the sun and waited for whatever might happen... it's not like the sky was going to fall on her head right?

XXXXX

Iona had the feeling as the sky was going to break and come falling on her head like a tonne of bricks, but that was only because of being shook so violently on the drop-ship. She had no idea why her mentor would send her with the investigation team to a planet as empty as Eureka VII, it was a retreat world for refugees and a place that had only so few interesting things to do on.

Iona was now 19 and in the prime of her youth, she was an interrogator and a woman with pride, she was on the road to becoming a new inquisitor in the UCAF, and tasked with searching for corruption and threats of xeno and chaos.

She hadn't however wanted to be sent to a world that had little but nothing more than crabs and sea urchins or the usual bad banker or idiotic political play that had been part of society for years. She didn't want this, not by a mile, but her mentor said to come here, for whatever might happen, seeing as he had help from one Adept and the sanctioned psyker, or ex-psyker on things to come.

She didn't see the need to come to a world that had even less records of bad weather than that of a friendly xeno.

(Okay, so that ends the mystery of the other Slaanesh servants, who I will have as mini stories. And also I love chaos, why do you think my name is evident disaster?)

XXXXX

(Oh the gravity!)

Ultra Demi AKA: The Diablo' Eye

Adept Archer, also known as Eric T-1213 huddled over the remains of the mysterious corpse of his enemy, the black patterns confused the heck out him, these fanatical psychopaths had jumped him as soon as he appeared.

He was curious as to what and why this had happened, they were human, but past tense, these people had been, and what they were now frightened him, black masks over their faces with symbols of eight pointed circles.

He walked on, his M7s still loaded, he activated his seeker gear, adepts come in many forms and shapes, adepts of the UCAF special tactics and reconnaissance had been on alert for any traces of chaos. The demon worshipping, loving, obsessed, and utterly fucked up people were here on the demon eye, the world considered a death wish for the covenant.

Archer headed down to the lower levels of the wrecked ship, he had discovered the vessel while tapping into covenant com chatter, the unencrypted channels provided him with the whereabouts of the ship, and they stated that there were fanatical psychopaths hiding here.

The covenant and the mystery chaos had bashed themselves in, and now with an empty base to deal with he headed on, shattered and strewn metals and wires, he headed to wherever a energy signal greater than a light might remain.

Archer was looking for something to salvage, as a lower class psychic it made him capable to sense things, and he had a feeling that something in here was at least with some sort of energy. He had to report it and bring it back for study at the base.

And soon he found whatever it was, a large chamber, or amphitheatre, was sitting with a single object still standing. It was a long black sword with silver edges, it had 4 crystals embedded in the sides, they glowed with the single light still shining upon it.

He walked over touching it, he picked it out from its stand and felt odd, and then began to blur his mind...

He was engulfed in mist, and soon opened his eyes, he was greeted by a empty amphitheatre with no one inside, and nothing in hand, it was the same, except cleaner... almost.

A voice with rage and blood lust filled the air.

"MORTAL, YOUR HEAD BELONGS TO THE SKULL GOD!" A booming voice yelled.

Archer only had a split second to vanish in smoke before a massive saw/chainsaw smashed the plating he was standing on, he drew into a defensive stance, this bulking killing machine had strength but not agility.

"What the ****? Who in hell are you?" He asked.

Another coercing voice, much silkier replied.

"He is Tharsus the blood berserker, he lives to kill for the blood god... and for his ego."

Archer turned to see a woman, dressed in very revealing clothes, smooth and pinkish in colour, her skin glowed with radiating beauty. She herself looked like a deity of Aphrodite, though not like the more virtuous women of their order.

"And who might you be?" He asked.

"I am Lady Rose, the haze of lust and greed, I am beauty and perfection, in the eyes of mortals, and I seek souls to feed me. Sigh, slaanesh however hasn't been able to respond to our predicament however, or the predicament of all of us."

"Us?" Archer said.

Another voice, slightly saggy suddenly answered.

"Yes, us."

He turned to see an armour figure much like the red and gold lined walking maniac, he was just green and white, looked as if his flesh was decaying, which it probably was.

The pink skinned woman suddenly looked as if she was about to convulse.

"Oh for the love of pleasure and all things nice, please will you not come within any range of us, you still smell like week old grox!"

The green being looked hurt.

"That's cold even for you, you know I had grox only a day before we ended up here, and that was a day longer than 25 hours."

"Yes, but you still stink like crap, Regoul, I don't know why the warp would send you here, but sheesh, go over to Tharsus at least." Lady Rose replied.

Archer was suddenly confounded by the reality of his situation.

"So I take it that this place isn't meant for all of you?"

Another voice answered, this one serene and yet laced with power, it twisted and called in a form he couldn't ignore.

"Yes mortal, we have to exist here because our situation demands it, and the fact that our masters have no honest clue where this is. Or to the point, why we must stand each other's sight."

He looked to see a woman dressed in navy to azure, she was voluptuous in sight, and seemed to emanate a great deal of power, multi-coloured wings and dressing had almost made him wish he was from Regis, he'd be at least charming to meet.

The woman smiled a bit, her feathery hair tinting a bit more navy, she was essentially blushing.

"You know, you don't need to look at me like that."

He snapped out of his stupor and replied.

"Sorry, just that you look awfully eye catching, I mean- you know power and all..."

Lady Rose was fuming, how did Tzeentch think that sending one new female member from the order to here was good? This b**** was taking all the attention away, and she wasn't even being ogled at by men or anything.

The Khornate laughed at the Slaaneshi as she fumed off, she was a pot steaming, and soon to blow. He couldn't help but wonder if the trickster decided to make her as possibly annoying to Slaanesh, which it was working.

The Tzeenechian introduced herself.

"Um, well, I'm Jezebel the Fated one, I alter the paths of all mortal souls into change, and I seek to increase my knowledge in the mortal plane."

"Well good luck with that." Archer replied.

That was when Jezebel stated.

"Which brings us to now, child; we are here to present you with an offer..."

The very red Rose continued.

"...that we as the whole four of us, in this psychic sword..."

Tharsus ended in a booming voice.

"...WE WANT YOUR BODY AND MIND TO HOLD US!"

And Rogul added.

"And also your soul."

Archer looked at them.

"You know that doesn't seem so smart, like what's in this for me?'

They looked at each other and replied.

"Well we couldn't rip into your soul as we could before, but seeing as we have no other host, and if your soul is extinguished, we'd be stuck once more, and those other idiots didn't have as significant as much of power left in them to hold a thimble, so we're left to you, besides we can help."

"With what?" He asked even more confused.

"Well you have significant psychic power, and a lot of energy, and oddly a unique resistance to us, so we might still be able to seep something' to you, though not extensively." Jezebel replied.

"Also our own unique traits may aid you, I shall grant you immunity to injuries and wounding, over death you are granted immunity." Rogul announced.

"I SHALL GRANT YOU STRENGTH TO BUTHCHER YOUR ENEMIES, AND DRINK THEIR BLOOD!"

Tharsus glorified.

"Man, that's just disgusting." Archer replied.

Rose stated.

"I can grant you charm and austerity, lure those to you. Besides espionage is my speciality."

Jezebel finally ended.

"And I shall grant you knowledge and power; bring your enemies in battle to their knees, through fate and events."

Archer contemplated the offer...

"You know what, what they heck, I'm okay with that."

The darkness engulfed him once more, and he fell dead asleep.

And then he woke up...

Archer stood back up, his head ached, the black sword in hard, glowing ever softly in the light, he hefted the blade unto a sheath on his back. He smiled, the adept felt alive, power gracefully arcing in his body.

He wanted to be called, shadow archer...

XXXXX

(Yes I know I had this for the previous chapter, however it wasn't as good so I cut it out, this is supposed to be the second part.)

Eric Archer: The Shadow Archer

Eve of mourning

Eric lay in the snow, on the world of Daedalus Axim; he had been here for the past week, ever since he left Diablo's Eye. He had looked at the skies, blood flowing from wounds of plasma and needlers, the covenant had shown greater resilience and persistence.

He wasn't sure how this happened, possibly since he joined his base once more, or the fact that he asked about the next operation, the next mission, the next factor. The enemy, and where to go, he asked for this and now he was granted this.

'FOOL DO NOT DIE, STAND AND FIGHT, LET US FEAST UPON THESE XENO SCUM!' Tharsus yelled in his mind.

'He can't my immunity has been worn, and his strength is almost gone, he can only breathe and bleed, unless we have something to save him with...' Rogul stated.

Archer thought about what to do, the covenant approached, he needed to focus, he needed to provide a means to protect them and himself. He focused the powers of psychic and holy endowed his mind, quantum energy focused and materialised.

The covenant was upon him, the elite commander looked at him, his mandibles clicked, the army of covenant levelled their weapons at the demon. The boy had eluded them for the past week, and now they caught him, the reinforcement's arrival was still far off and their reconnaissance agent would be dead.

But the elite noticed something wrong, the human had formed and aura of energy, different from plasma or anything he had seen before, the boy looked at him, his eyes glowing of white and blue fury.

"Feel the wrath of Chaos!" He yelled.

There was a blast of light and then the commander stood back, the snow had melted, and a strange stench permeated the air, he had never felt such disgust or dread. A heavy thumping of footsteps and a cackling of energy and soon the mist cleared.

A massive object in red and gold, skulls placed over its body, it was taller than even him, it growled and looked at him, and he felt the gaze of the monstrosity. He almost felt as if he was being smiled upon, he drew back to see the others.

Another was a decayed armoured figure, drawing a scythe; it had triple pockmarked shapes and grunted pulling up a stench ridden weapon.

The next a human female, though with purple skin, she smiled seductively at him, and drew two fleshy whips out, snapping them, they were alive.

The final being was standing next to the boy, her eyes lit in fury, the blue scales and feathers, the multi-coloured wings and dress pieces lighting up in a multitude of scarlet and yellow.

"Who dares attack the avatars of chaos and their host?" Rogul growled.

The elite replied.

"Begone demons, I have purity of will and faith, you shall die at the hands of the gods and their chosen, now die!"

The avatars didn't flinch as the plasma bolts rained towards them, or the army rushed them, or the whole strike force was out to kill them. It was a simple means of taking these idiots down, the chaos avatars held fast, they held their blades forwards.

Jezebel the Fated called upon her psychic power to send a shockwave to knock back the enemy. Tharsus rushed into the fight, his chain axe, Bloodfester dragging behind him, eager to hack its way through the covenant ranks, the anticipation was too much!

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" Tharsus yelled as he pummelled the first elite with a back hand and then hacking the next in a vertical cut.

Rogul the plague bearer sent a wave of pestilent bugs into the enemy formation, the bugs nipped and poisoned their enemies, but it only sent them back for a moment. Another wave crashed over the wounded and injured and ran to the avatars.

Jezebel unleashed fury upon them, not warp powers were easier to contemplate as the mind of an adept trained in use of pure light given powers made use of his energy. Waves of energy arced through the air and killed the first waves, another lanced at the rows and sent them stumbling in pain, grasping their faces.

Lady Rose sent her petals of death at the enemy, the little flakes of snow now covered in blood, she sent them in knives, the blizzard of crimson slicing through the covenant ranks and numbers, she smiled as the battle continued, she hadn't been able to exit out into physical form in a long time.

The battle continued, energy swords clashing on the super armoured killing machine with an axe. Tharsus hacked his way into the enemy; he smiled in absolute blood lust.

"SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"

The enemy was seemingly a rejuvenating thing for the chaos avatars, draining their enemies and drenching themselves in the souls of their enemies, or blood or energy, seeing as the material and after life did not technically exist here.

The last covenant standing was the commander.

"You shall not take me alive, the covenant has heard of you demons, I shall be granted death, but listen to the winds, they approach and you shall die!"

The elite didn't last as long as Rogul simply appeared behind him and stabbed his scythe into the rear of the elites back.

XXXXX

He could feel them, his mind expanding, it reached to guide them, the 4 avatars were being projected by him, his mind allowed them to move freely due to his senses. His mind constructed them from materials that he had available, and allowed them to exist within these bodies.

Now he had the four of the chaos followers to battle, he himself remaining in a comatose state, his mind was active to keep them functioning, and only when it was needed that he shut them all down.

Jezebel walked over to him, his eyes opened, and he fell asleep, the chaos sorceress picked him up, gently cradling the boy in her arms. She was getting closer to the boy, and she knew that as soon as she got the chance she could turn his noble hear to her.

The thought was interrupted by the other members gathered around her.

"Are we heading to the point that he told us to before he collapsed, or are we sitting on our asses for nothing?" Rose fumed.

XXXXX

The party continued on their journey as soon as they figured out where south west was, now heading into the sunnier regions over a massive biometric area covered in snow, they were in the south gates of Axim.

The region was not as snowy, but more, wet... As soon as the party stopped for a rest near the edges of a destroyed town, they were greeted by a torrential downpour which seemed to never end.

It had been over a few days since the battle at Hal's Mortimer, and they had commandeered a single transport to take them to this little town at the border between the equatorial lines. The region was constantly wet and dry.

They arrived with a still comatose adept, they attempted to enter his mind, which failed, and then tried enchantments and any other means, however nothing could break the two sides. They were trapped in living shells until they could determine a means of waking the boy up.

At the present moment, they were hiding inside the abandoned home of once a family, there they found stored foods that had yet to go old. The fresh food problem didn't sit well though with Tharsus, he went about chasing and hacking animals to pieces, if he could find them.

The plague bearer seemed unhappy somewhat, the smell of decay had invited a bit more scavengers which okay for the moment. But his orders told him to stay as close to the proximity marker as possible.

It would only be a bit longer...

XXXXX


	4. Chapter 4

CH4

XXXX

The defiance of souls...

XXXX

Paratheius-

Praxia III

The chaos fleet was wrecked, it anticipated almost everything, however not the many additional reinforcements that its allied planet boasted. Now it was a free for all, MACs ripped holes in the 15 hulls of what was once the black fleet, and many were damaged or destroyed, the 45 opposing ships had done their work, only 20 being lost and 9 damaged.

But there were the 5 Super MACs and linear drives and hundreds of swarms of colonial defenders and fighters which began to rid the starhawks and chaos fighters in a swift and decisive battle. It was only an hour into the battle and they were losing.

The Mirthless Lust drove into the defenders with a vengeance, though it was quickly silenced, in response to its ravaging attack on the remaining defenders it was struck by 4 MACs which crippled its already overtaxed engines. The reactors blew, dozens of fires broke out and the adamantium hull buckled in regions over the ship.

Amongst the damaged ship, Alex bolted through all of the wrecked halls, he knew that dolt of a commander couldn't lead a ship even if it hit him in the face, which it did ironically. A massive section of the prow crushed the commander and the admiral, which was good and incredibly bad.

The fleet was without a cohesive mind and now all the ships were trying to escape the disaster of an attack. Alex however knew that his chance was now, his fellow new recruits he had with him were to liberate their families and those that they had their duty to.

Using the claws of Soulfury he ripped a hole in the doors and pulled his weight to tear the doors open, and allow him and his brothers a chance to break through the defences. And reach the secure cells of the demonettes.

He rushed through the corridors and then to the lift, he arrived on the prison level, and also the processing level, he arrived at the cell, his bolt pistol loaded and secure in his hands. He opened the door; he was greeted by the sights of the room, the carnal smells of rancid flesh and sweet sickly decay.

"Oh look whose back!" One pink skinned demon said.

"Oh my, you've changed so much, but shouldn't you be on the transports down?" She asked.

"No, the commander asked me to get you over to the escape pods the fleet is in ruins and we need to evacuate." He Explained.

"Well that doesn't sound right; I thought they solved that the commander was killed?"

He looked about unsure, they were onto him, and he smirked as he approached.

"You know, I was just curious to ask, but have you ever wondered why we are here?"

"Yeah, plenty of times, why?"

His claw came upon one thing that seemed to scare her, the generator for the energy cuffs, his talons ripped into the flesh like machine, it sputtered and coughed as he pulled it out. He smiled and kicked the demon in the stomach and tossed her away.

Havoc was wrecked as the defiant chaos marine began to release the prisoners, the doors opened as the prisoners revolted, the space marines who were captured broke loose, they pummelled the demon and ran over to their equipment, or what was left of it.

The two deamonettes remained on the floor, both with blood pooling near them, the dark eldar ran about they pointed sharp objects and remained able to fight, the others did similar, all sides ready to claw into each other.

His mother was unsure whether or not to approach him, while he brought his claw into the metal deck, and he yelled.

"Shut the frakking heck up, we need to focus people." He yelled.

The sister of battle replied.

"Focus? You raped one of our sisters and pleasured yourself upon other beings, how can we focus being led by a traitor?"

"Would a traitor come back in defiance? Would I have released you if I was a traitor, or call for the aid of the imperium? Throne be damned if you say I am not loyal, I stick to my oath as a soldier." He replied.

The space marines looked at him, they were equally unsure, but he had proof, he was still a soldier, even as young as he was. He brought his talon to face them and said.

"The UCAF was on approach, they are going to be destroying the hangar in about another 10 minutes, and we need to leave."

"And what is the UCAF?" A guardsman asked.

"A group of people who secured our freedom, they said that they're going to be here very soon, all I did was contact them and deceived my commander, who is now dead."

"What about weapons?" A space marine in clothes asked.

"That's..." "Covered by me." Another voice said.

A slenderly dressed elven faced woman stood in the doorway, she held a number of weapon cases, she did look a bit weighed down, however years of training helped her endure the weight.

"Alenia, it's good that you made it, there were no problems?" Alex asked.

The eldar female replied.

"None that I couldn't handle, the guards are sloppy."

"Good, then this makes our exit much easier." Alex replied replacing his pistol for a larger bolt gun.

"So, would you all rather die when the ship gets blown to pieces, or get off at the designated extraction point?" He asked.

The looked at each other, they can start fighting later, not now...

They ran for the exit, in groups they remained, but Alenia was running alongside her brethren, it wasn't long before one asked.

"Why and how are you helping this, beast?" A fellow banshee asked.

"I had little choice, and he was free from the control of Slaanesh, his will was to escape, and so I believed him, there was little to lose, and I still had some strength to escape."

"Do you believe of this escape plan he had created?" She asked.

"Yes, I was there, he ensured that the UCAF come to our aid and distract the fleet while we escaped; he promised that they'd not fail."

"I do hope your faith in him is strong."

XXXXX

In the hangar they arrived, the ships waiting for them, dozens of other prisoners had been freed by the defiant marines. Alex led the group to the large thunderhawk that remained; he lied to the servitors and the adepts that the machine was running down.

So now they had a means of escape, down to the world below, and hopefully a new beginning. He picked his mother up by one had and got all the escapees aboard. He ordered his brothers to pilot the ship to the planet and avoid any MAC strikes.

The gunship roared out and was quickly followed by half a dozen others, the night skies below of Praxia would remember this night, and the nights to come. As the engines roared they watched the skies light up, the atmosphere and through the ionosphere they rumbled through unhindered.

The gunship shuttered and rattled under the pressure of entering the atmosphere, it was then it finally calmed down that Alex noticed how quiet it was, his mother was falling asleep and the other occupants had relaxed slightly.

He also noticed that Alenia was resting on his other side, he couldn't help but wonder where he was to go to next all had been completed. His mother now safe and his lover, as loose as the term was, were now at his side. There was nothing left for him, except the coming judgement, would he be granted amnesty, or would the imperium have him executed?

The gunship arrived at its destination, the small city of the UCAF, port Keldra.

XXXXX

2531

On the edge of the dawn of the front line, smoke rose from the forests, down here in the Ancordian jungles the marauders of the 221st battalion engaged in forest warfare. The region had been in dispute for over 36 months, the troops had been dug in and harassing the enemy forces.

The covenant had brought out the 9th fleets of Induction of Truth, it had been a gruelling campaign but the covenant crusaders had been grounded here. Out in the open forests the UCAF was winning the war in the jungles, and causing as much damage as possible.

Jordan Hartman, survivor of Krugis and Redan and the many campaigns that had followed since his first introduction into the UCAF. He reached a grenade pouch and primed an MA40 incendiary, the hot round glued itself to an approaching elite.

The heat wash blasted the shields and extreme heat scolded itself to the flesh of the elite, then it took moments to engulf the elite, his body was melted in seconds. And then the rest of the search team was gunned by snipers, rifles kicking back, their AP rounds and grenade attachment ripped into the grunts with ease.

The team vanished back into the forests and headed back into the forests, there they grouped at the entrance to the underground. They knocked 3 times, and 2 came back, the door opened and they all ran inside.

The doors closed behind them, entering the small tunnel they were greeted by fellow resistance fighters and troops, and a guy with a massive knife from a place called Catachan. They all dug out of the way, and ran into the endless abyss.

They crawled and then ran and then climbed, they arrived at the core, the central network of caves, here the thousands of marines and troopers of all forest warfare prepared endlessly their rifles and guns, missiles stacked on walls, and tons of explosives planted on critical points.

Jordan encountered a fellow commando.

"Ike, how're things here?" He asked shifting a magazine of MA5C rounds.

"Not much, command called in for another alert, enemy ship on the 12th parallel, saying that the UCAF can't spare another drop, not for a while." He said with fatigue.

"Damn, how long until the 19th fleet arrive?" Jordan asked.

"Two months, and that's if they can break the line, or unless a redemption class can push through, we're on our own." He stated.

XXXXX

Talden IV

The city of Iscas was different, different in many ways, its once urban steel colour and white walls of clean industrial works all changed and re-purposed, the city was now a place that resembled much like a gothic cathedral, many walls of clean ceramic now added.

The UCAF people of this world were living in the midst of change, and of difference. The imperium had done all it could to adjust it to their standards; the people were not all that welcoming, their naturally good clean environment now marred with metal and grey.

The skies were cloudy, not because of rain, but the sheer gasses that the mechainus factories burning their fuels, the people had never seen so much cloud and damp rain in years. But this rain was beginning to degrade the lands and poison lakes.

There was a mass environmental protest in early 2530 which argued the purpose of such damage, and after much debate the refusal of the mechanius had resulted in a prolonged red tape of manufacturing plants.

The UCAF had countered what they could with carbon scrubbers and natural solutions but the sheer amount of ash and poison pumped into the air, the UCAF was still trying to understand what the imperials were pumping into the air, but it was hazardous to the natural environment, and that was enough.

Iscas now resembled a dreary city of grey and dulled silver, people had little to be happy about, this was environmental disaster, and one that may haunt them and their children for a very long time. Down to the monastery of the sisters of battle, the sisters gathered candles and chanted their morning prayers, even as dark as it was.

They were joined by many new faces, people who enlightened themselves to the light of the emperor and to the imperium, but not all shared the same sentiments. There was some confliction of religions amongst the population, as Christians and Evangelists along with many Veditionists and Delirians had conflicted with the imperial religion.

Kristina Lara the mother superior of the order was chanting along with the many people, her eyes focused on the firm statue of the Aquila. She had been devout in trying to bring the people to bear in mind of the emperors light, but with minimal effect, she'd have scourged the planet if it hadn't been for the fact that this place was different.

Many sisters held the procession for another half an hour and let the people leave as soon as it ended, some altar boys remained to clear the tables and sisters helped answer questions of faith.

XXXXX

2531

Nu Carlton

The Carlton expanse was one of the few most recognised wonders of the natural galaxy, a pure tourist attraction for millions and provided the best scenic tours and trips in the UCAF space. The sight was also wonderful in the eyes of the Eldar commander now in charge of her ship, Idanya Sirha, captain of her own ship watched in trance at the beautiful star formation.

It had been over 2 years since attaining this position as a captain of a human ship, the Union of Souls, commissioned by the UCAF when vessels had been re-purposed for the front lines. This was set for her and her brethren, allowing them to fight for the alliance that they had so willingly trusted.

She was not one to be pessimistic, but the idea of following orders of a UCAF person, human, was not appealing, especially when only years back she had been killing many. But now was not the time for such thoughts, a report into a mysterious incident only 10 light years away had drawn her scout fleet and a dozen other ships to investigate.

"Yuriel please bring us to approach vector 12, we're to jump to the Olisi system, only 2 colonies and over 5 million inhabitants. This shouldn't be so much a challenge." She said airily.

The AI, a blonde haired man with brown eyes nodded.

"Acknowledged, bringing us about, please wait."

The ship activated slip-space and set the ship into the open portal of subspace where it would arrive at its destination with a surprise waiting on the other side.

XXXXX

Olisi Indestri II

The earth shook as the railgun tore a hole in the building near Jace, his life couldn't have gotten worse, but it did, and a whole lot too. There was a warning over 3 months ago that colonies on the Far East had been dropping out of contact, 3 systems had vanished and when the UCAF sent a force to investigate the local regions they dropped out as well.

Now after a week of emergency evacuations and preparations their worst case scenario had come to life, 15 unknown contacts arrived in the system, but not by slip-space. But they were still unknowns, and this was enough to spark the alarms.

Thousands of troops were rushed from local academies and prepared troops of the local militia and rear guards began to arm up. And the UCAF local defences too brought themselves in for the long run, armaments and heavy weapons sprawled in the anti-armour fashions and formations meant to take on heavy covenant forces.

However their enemies were covenant or any known enemy that they had seen these beings were enemies who had skills and deadly precision. Thousands descended on the small colony world and now Indestri was on the verge of falling.

These beings were effective and efficient, but not as great in close combat. But they didn't need close combat, not all of them, there were plenty armed with long ranged rifles and weapons.

Jace couldn't help but wonder why this was happening, but he was interrupted as he saw an oncoming enemy barrage, a wave of enemy fighters and skimmers running a long streak of plasma and fusion blasts across the lines.

He watched as the teams replied, missiles smacking enemies out with lots of AA missiles and HEATs and Argents and MAAs going off in every known direction. Large blocky utilitarian designed ships arrived, dropping more enemy infantry, he picked his MA5C [I] variant and began to mow into them.

He lobbed exactly 2 grenades, and each heavy thud brought about 2-3 enemies in gulfs of fire. But that didn't stop them from regrouping and attacking again, they brought out at least another dozen more before he realised that he and the last of the platoon was going to be overrun.

He broke from lines with his fellow marines and headed to the far corner of the ruined block of the city, there he saw that the marines had a HM-AAP set up; the gun platform gave cover fire to the troops as they made their way back.

That was then the position was struck, he dived as the explosion struck out the cover, it was a heavy plasma blast. He turned about to see a large mechanised suit, he realised that the thing was almost like the UCAF MVF-AA series, but not as bulky or heavily armed.

The suit was agile and slim, it looked a bit like the MVFs, but with glowing eyes and flying drones he knew better, and that was when they brought out the heavy stuff. The suit came along with a dozen strange units, each with a type of stealth coat or armour, they dived into the crossroads where his squad was disorientated and surrounded them.

"Surrender Gue'la, this is your only chance." An oddly female voice commanded.

He looked to the machine now staring at him, his rifle at hand he couldn't help but wonder if he should commit suicide; the enemy might as well torture him and such, so why wait?

It was then that he heard something, something very familiar.

He chucked himself on the ground as a high pitched whistle came clear and stuck a stealth suit, the unit barely realised what was happening until he exploded. Another dozen or so rounds came through and picked off another 4.

That was when the commander of these mystery aliens turned to see what Jace knew was coming. A black and red armoured suit with a gold visor and two shoulder mounted heavy M155 Magellan class anti-tank guns, it had 2x6 leg missile pods and over 12x2 rear shell pods of HEATs, it also had two hands and 2 detachable blades with 1 M50 Vulcan machine gun and a grenade launcher attached.

The MVF-08th team printed on its shield, it was a testament to the power of the real UCAF, the commander of the enemy jumped away, and she brought her guns to fire on the MVF, which swiftly dodged the attack. If this was who Jace could see, then it was a special commissioned unit from the front lines.

The commander fired her fusion blaster followed by repeaters and then plasma cannon. The MVF blocked the fusion blast and dodged the plasma by reversing its engines and boosting itself up, it then used the cover of a building to cloud the commander.

Jace watched in awe as the battle progressed, absolutely disconnected from the ongoing war, he was astounded, there had been very few who could defeat a MVF pilot and that was rare in itself.

XXXXX

Praxia III

Port Keldra

2531- 2 days later

The large shuttle ascended from the surface of Praxia en-route to a place called Eureka VII, the only place for those without any beginning or end. On board the shuttle, hundreds of refugees, migrants and otherwise military personnel were headed there.

Alex watched as the ship entered slip-space and headed on to its set destination, he was amazed at the glimmering white of a pure tunnel of light, it headed forever into the universe, and he wondered what this universal form of material was.

But he was taken away from the window he sat next to by Alenia, who had a new set of clothes and a better look.

"So gazing at the mysteries of this place?" She asked.

"Yes, it is amazing; I cannot imagine what it might be like sailing through space like this, nothing like the warp."

"Hmm, you are correct on that assumption, but needless to say, it's still space out there, I doubt that anyone could feel anything." She replied.

They paused, Alex reflected on the new orders he had received from the mysterious inquisitor named Mendel, he had the space marines and the sisters of battle rescind their orders for trial and execution and had him sent to Eureka to be drafted as an employee for the inquisitor's interrogator.

That and his mother wanted a place to go where she might start a new life, but not only that, he was in the company of all those who he rescued and others of his new troop. Other candidates he recruited were to go the Eureka system and wait for a full medical examination and psych tests.

A team of medical forces were inbound from the main colonies with imperium's own to add, the brother sergeant and chaplain he saved were also there with their own brothers, a whole 30 odd space marines, and a few hundred others.

The Eureka system was the closest to all the patrol lines and trade routes, eldar forces were headed to pick up Alenia and her sisters. While the sisters of battle were to go to the monastery being constructed there to receive aid.

Alex and his defiant band were to be sent to be tested and evaluated on his ability as an officer, he was to become either a true commander of marines or he'd be simply sent as a suicidal shock trooper until he died. The latter sounded the best outcome for him, which it was, and he hoped that he may reach that position.

It was only that time would tell if Alex was ready or not for the struggles and troubles of being a space marine…

XXXXX

Eureka- Cal Haven

Julia, ate a nice meal with her sisters and her new boyfriend, Kardel was nothing short of the perfect guy, only habit was that he was a soldier and that really killed some of her moods. But still nice body and all, and good attitude blend with a strong past, he had everything a girl, human, could want.

All at the table busied themselves, the day went so fast, as did the past 3 years; they were so engorged in this new life that everything seemed almost great. And in the past few months she had changed quite nicely, her skin was now a tan, and most of her sisters agreed to changing the pigment of their skin and adjusting their bodies for the local environment, there were rumours from the city that Usara worked at that a inquisitor was headed for the world.

Luckily no trace of warp meant that discovery was almost minimal. So she breathed a good sigh of relief and hoped that nothing went wrong. She went back to her curried chicken and wolfed down a good chunk, she'd never been for as much for table manners.

Another few more days and they'd be on their way to a vacation spot down to the tropical lines called the Beldain Private Resorts, it was a celebration for Kardel who was going back to the front lines in the coming month, and that was a bummer for her, so she wanted something special.

XXXXX

Kaida Valley City

Kaida or Kara Wester as she was now called, watched from the top of her new house, it was a short 4 storey mansion that watched over the city. The new city was named after her first name and in honour of her origins. Kara was now relaxed, in a sort of ways, possibly because her eldar maids came about with warm towels and helped dry her.

Or the fact that they resented her but could do nothing, their control collars active when the sisters of desecration arrived on the planet and made work of some equipment. The eldar maids were here because of her, and with the many other female slaves she enjoyed bragging on who had to serve who.

But there was the fact that she didn't know what to do afterwards either than teasing the slaves and making them do the usual menial chores that she decided was boring. She had almost nothing to do, and without the warp, nowhere to go, and that was when she discovered alternatives.

She began to indulge in her local life, but found it degrading to her health, and thus went to go get a personal exercise agent and workman. This was followed by book reading, hobby work, and a lot of paper work and reading.

And now it seemed as though she was running short of things to do, she even thought of doing hobbies like singing, or gaming, but there was so little time, and so much stress, she was deciding if she required a group of other people to run things like an executive board.

Which was exactly what she was planning on doing, once an executive board was up and running, she'd never have to do half or a third of all the bloody paper work. But this wasn't the only source of problems that were causing so much stress, in her notice she realised that the imperium was sending a rescued group of civilians from a chaos ship, it was also that an inquisition team was meeting them, but the worst part was that they were to meet here.

Kara was about to scream her head off, it was the last thing she wanted, the fething inquisition in her city, she wanted nothing to do with them, but the UCAF policy made some of their free will to pass through. And now she was to be host for her worst enemies, who were not in chains or collars, but in armoured suits and combat skins, and were armed.

Her sinecure position was now compromised and she was about to hit the fan hard, but she had not time to panic, she required subtlety in the face of destruction, she needed to try and avoid attention as much as possible.

But with the inquisition, nothing escaped scrutiny and that was her concern.

XXXXX

Olisi Indestri II

Jace was now finally free from the city; he and over 40,000 others had escaped the damned clutches of their enemy called the tau and their damned greater good. The marines however had to leave behind a number of troops, mostly the youngest; they were to be left for surrender at the hands of their enemies, and for good reason.

But this wasn't quelling the gut feeling that the tau wouldn't just massacre the children, but from what they heard from the captured fire warriors, they'd spare the children, they had no part in the conflict. And that was enough for them to spare the captured POWs and leave them there to watch over the survivors.

Meanwhile the main troops and armoured divisions headed into the wastes of their planet, where it was said that hundreds of other outer settlements were waiting, there they'd receive support until the UCAF managed to arrive, and deal with these tau.

But there was something wrong, and he knew it, he felt as though that there was someone left behind.

XXXXX

Rey-0112 fired his M50 again, only for it to register as empty, his last clip was spent, and his enemies were converging on his position, his backpack was decimated and there was little power left to make a successful escape. He was cornered, and they knew it.

He had only 6 missiles and a couple of combat knives, nothing left to take on the waves of plasma wielding troops or tanks. His core reactors were breached and the suit had to sever the connection to ensure that the suit didn't explode prematurely, but protocol dictated action, he needed to commit suicide, his enemies would take the MVF to use against the rest of humanity.

But with no suicide pills, considering that there was no space to put them, he was on his own, nothing left but another 5 minutes worth of light, he was left with little choice. That was when the enemy commander returned, this time with 4 other suits, equal in size to his own, just heavily armed, the blocky suits aimed at him, and the commander came face to face with him.

A feminie voice chimed.  
>"Gue'la, surrender to the Tau'va, there is no need to continue this Iur'tae'mont."<p>

He replied.  
>"And why shouldn't I? You've come here bent on enforcing your ideals upon those who disagree, so why shouldn't I?"<p>

"You know better gue'la, do the right thing for yourself; there is no need for you to die for no purpose."

"Purpose? Is this all this is about? I have purpose, in the face of death and destruction I am what I become, a living weapon, the shield of mankind, and I shall die in battle for its continued existence… and I have no means to complete that task now." His suit died.

The MVF finally ran out of energy, and its reactor shutting down completely, the hatch opened manually and Rey stood out, his youthful face and skin as white as snow. He was only 13.

"Purpose is nothing to me…"

XXXXX (I do not know the language so; please bear in mind that this is all English, and some other things.)

Shas'O Shadowstrike kept her head on the target, a young gue'la that had no purpose in life, he looked at her with cold pale and coordinated eyes, he was a weapon from birth, and she could see it. She saw the cadre and squads converge upon him, content to whisk him off to the nearest Fio'Vre and have he converted.

She looked about and saw that most of the fighting had stopped, and that a long range communication went through. It was from one of the captured troops.

"My commander, we are victorious to this day, the gue'la, are fleeing and have asked to keep the youngest in our protection, their people had ordered this to all who remain, and they say to protect them well, or otherwise incur their wrath."

"Very well, I shall report back to Aun Vakun, his insight shall determine what is to happen." She replied.

The stealth battlesuit faced away from the captured youth and turned to face the main ships of the tau, her people had come in great force since encountering these humans of the UCAF. They were formidable when they scouted a number of planets from their colony world.

Next they encountered their fleets and a system packed with colonies, and now this, the greater good demanded that they be brought to understand, but also to share knowledge. The UCAF had destroyed all slip-space capable drives and purged all data records; this slip-space they utilised was astounding and very complex, but so far nothing.

And thus the reason for this heavy engagement, the gue'la cannot understand, so they had to be made to, and with all their efforts the Aun agreed to this combined assault on the system. Vakun had agreed to oversee the invasion and containment of another system. There was also the other 4 of the revered ethereal' those now were here on this border of exploration.

Avessra remembered the events at Kronus, the fleet was en-route to their aid, however commander Kais reported a tragedy of the death of an Aun on the planet, thus incurred the attention of the main fleet to arrive, and that was when they were engulfed by the mysterious black hole.

After the past 3 cycles in the same system, the ethereal' agreed to send a token scout force into the local systems for resource gathering, and then they stumbled upon a colonised world. The human inhabitants had no indication of being part of the imperium and their dictatorial rule; however they were not happy at the sight of the tau.

After the initial contact the colonists were unsure, and some quickly ordered for someone to contact their local forces and arrive as soon as possible, it was then that the locals didn't wish to listen to the greater good and rebelled.

They also knew that the tau had no FTL means and destroyed and hid all the data they could, to ensure the tau had no to little means of winning. But that did not stop them from trying, and soon battles were constant on the road to enlightening the colonies.

Avessra could still not fathom that this was an alternate universe, but her duty remained, the people must be brought to understand.

XXXXX

Eureka

Kiada city port-012

The shanty looking port held many ships from all over the sector, dozens arriving day in and day out, ships heading to other various ports across the UCAF space, here it was one sight to behold, and Rose could not believe that she managed to get here.

Her time in that damnable incarceration had been abominable, but now she recovered and she was ready to take on the galaxy, spending over 2 years exploring she found this universe full of things to do, including magic!

She was acting as a mage for the entertainment business, and she was freelancing, she wanted to go try her luck at the bars and such and possibly try maybe dancing, she still had her heels from Proxima, she could imagine the havoc she could wreck on a dance floor.

Picking her way over through the city she headed on to the nearest transport into the depths of Kaida. The name sounded funny, like she heard it somewhere, but she paid no heed, there were plenty of odd names in the universe.

She arrived at the local bar, a place usually packed with travellers and gangers, but this place was packed with single traders and local rabble, nothing new or interesting. Which made this not so surprising, the UCAF never squandered as much on alcohol or anything excessive, this made her feel so lonely.

But then she saw the sign, 'HIRING'.

She went over, interested in the job; maybe this wouldn't be so bad…

XXXXX

The ground was littered with corpses all decapitated, his axe Bloodfester churning again and again, in anticipation, but Tharsus felt empty, there was no fun anymore, he hacked and he stabbed, but there was nothing. The Covenant and UCAF provided nothing of interest, and killing these stronger brutes proved futile.

The front on the Kasrius front was dull, he wanted to do something else now, 2 years wasted over nothing, his rune stone completely bored to death, he wondered what else to do, he heard a trader might be hiring on Ioka, which gave him an awesome idea.

XXXXX

Rogul didn't know if this was fate's way of telling him that he sucked, or this was a cruel joke by the universe on him. He was chained to a container packed with cleaning fluids, and not only that, it was Detol, the one product that had been around for so long, it outlived even him.

How he ended up here was because of a damned mishap with the local farmers of Ussus, he was blamed for a mix up with poisoning the produce and the farmers decided to stick him on a drum barrel, his powers were useless as he required Archer as his medium in the material plane.

XXXXX

At the front lines

Sector 22-0011-323R

Rey-0499 had his striker AVF-AA Variant S at the local launch point, the covenant fleet was converging on the system of Siatra, near the Nevada Borders to Hao and Laos, and this was a battle that needed to be won. However the UCAF had limited forces, and from Hao, the defenders were still reeling back from their subsequent battles.

The severe task now fell to his strike force of UCAF ships, approximately 150 in number, and they were to engage the covenant over the border here and now, by utilising a special weapon that had come from the UCAF academies on Anomia.

The weapon had not yet passed the trial stages and was still in development, but the command forces wished to see how effective the weapon would be on a covenant fleet. This new weapon was called the trans-quantum bomb, and it was to rip a hole in the fabric of the universe.

Rey was unsure of the use of WPSDs in the system, considering how close they were to Hao, but the situation was desperate, as the covenant was bringing in a strike force of over 450 ships, and there was little the UCAF could do.

Rey 0499 was much like the other clones of the Rey program, they were cloned to pilot machines like his, all the MVFs all made and designed for them to use, in the face of destruction. He was trained to use the VF-AVF- Series E105 the fast and versatile frame of the Zodiac.

This deep navy framed suit had been developed by the Neo Alliance arms, and was made for speed and agility, not to mention it was humanoid in all areas. He could move like his normal body could and he could do far more damage.

On the far side of the trap, he waited with the other squads of MVFs and AVFs, all armed and prepared for battle, however the other MVFs and AVFs were all UCAF prototypes and were all developed for non-clones and normal humans.

The GMR-S077 were the resulting suits, and each was made for such a short range, Rey was sure that the suits only had half of his triple speeds, and only a sixth in reflexes. But that didn't mean that they were useless, the covenant had very little luck in producing their own and couldn't match the UCAF MF teams.

Rey locked on to an approaching energy signal, the enemy was coming out of slip-space, once the bomb detonated, and the fleet would engage the remains, if there were any.

"Enemy incursion in, 3, 2, 1…" The AI of the UCAF Auburn Summer counted.

Then the behemoth shapes of the covenant fleet appeared, hundreds of purple coloured hulls some with silver and others with blue, and then the blinding white, which consumed all…

"Detonation commenced, all troops brace!"

XXXXX

Somewhere at sometime

Kher-Ys, the prize of Heartslayer, and the folly of the eldar who did not prepare, on the craftworld, Heartslayer gathered the eldar who he had captured and violated. His prize was won only a few days before, and he did not wish to squabble such magnificent things.

He drove the eldar into deprivation, to which they held for the past few days, the demonettes hunted for whatever resistance remained, and his followers sacrificed those who came first. The males were easy things for the demons to gorge upon, but he wanted to humiliate and desecrate the prize of the females.

Heartslayer had settled for such a bounty, he was going to make their suffering slow and painful. He believed that this would be as easy as seducing the maiden daughter of the damned autarch to his whim, speaking of which he remembered to get her here for another special torment, where he'd drive the memories into her head.

But then he noticed something odd… why were there some much light in one place?

Before he could even realise what had just happened, he and the entire Kher-Ys craftworld was sucked into the tunnel of light, and whisked to the plane of reality that was going to wreck his day.

XXXXX

Rey opened his eyes, the glare foil retracted and he could see into the void once more, except that his vision was slightly blurry and he wasn't sure what had just happened. He turned about to face his console when a large amount of traffic came over the coms.

"All teams, alert to pattern 2330-beta, we have unknowns, repeat unknowns in the system, cannot confirm what the hell just came through but its big…"

Rey's advanced sight came back online; he linked the neural cable to his MVF and made sure to check in with his fellow squad mates, all of the systems were registering as operational. But what stopped him in his tracks was the large ship of sorts sitting about 200,000km off his ventral axis.

"Is this for real?" Someone asked.

That was when main command came online, admiral Ike Valek was issuing orders.  
>"All teams break formation and investigate unknown contact, all ships are to regroup and follow in, we have no idea what the hell just came through, but keep things secure, we don't need something going horribly wrong. September actual is to take point."<p>

All troops and suits acknowledged the new directive and followed in without question, but the sheer size of the thing was astounding to say the least, it was organic in shape and form, and it was larger than the Iowa Super construct of the UCAF in New Dallas.

He couldn't even begin to count how many kilometers this thing was, it had to be about as large as a planet, and it looked like it was as well. The first teams to land were on the docking bays to the left side of the massive ship/planet.

Rey punched in the coordinates for the closest entryway into the ship, and located a door that was open, if not slightly damaged. It was odd to find something like this in a place like this, especially since they detonated a universal bomb.

But no more thinking, they were entering the docks, which looked abandoned…

"Can anyone get life signs?" Unit 2311 asked.

"None, not a soul in sight, this is weird, power is running, and there's air and gravity, where the hell is everybody?" He asked.

"Boy, don't lose your cool; we're still not sure if this thing isn't some kind of super weapon." Lieutenant Cole said.

"Yes sir." Was the reply the squad gave and they continued into the unknown.

XXXXX

Heartslayer had bad days, but nothing like this, this was like being wasted in the morning after a lot of alcohol and having the worst hangover ever. But that was the thing, he was having a hangover, the pleasant smells of flesh gone and the sounds of the warp had left an impact on him.

He couldn't hear them anymore, the masters were gone, and now emptiness, he tried a psychic link, but nothing worked, his mind reached as much as it could, but nothing. Only the fellow minions were all he could hear, all begging to hear from the masters, but then that was when they should have noticed the 4m high suits of metal appear behind a wall.

XXXXX

"Okay, now what the fuck is this?" Anton Gitaman asked.

They were in a city a vast city and it was messed up, they could see the bodies of beings mostly male strung up in the most gore and bloodiest fashion ever. There were a few others, but damned it was wrong, the UCAF pilots felt sick.

Rey didn't seem as phased by the disgusting acts of desecration, his mind focused on the enemy; there were life signs, many life signs. And they were all centered on a single chamber, he brought his HUD active and activated all his weapons, he gave them the signal.

"Okay, we shoot anything that doesn't surrender and make sure to keep your eyes out for any civilians, Rey's going ahead of us, so make note of anything that might happen."

They all agreed and waited as Rey headed out first.

He activated his rear thrusters and core boosters to make a long arc to the nearest source of power, which seemed to be an oblong building with a tall spire. He wasn't sure how to discern the background to energy, but with a place the size of a planet to explore it was better to locate the closest energy source.

When he arrived he was greeted by a battlefield, and in a closer inspection the eldar, and some other race, he could tell that they were eldar due to the smooth shapes and coloured armours of aspect warriors.

He loaded his M50 Vulcan and did what he did best, pulled the trigger and watched the lines of pink flesh explode in a violent frenzy.

XXXXX

If Heartslayer wasn't having the worst of days, he was having the worst day in his life, everything goes well and something then goes wrong and then wrong goes bad and bad goes worse. He just couldn't imagine why these armoured boxes were suddenly kicking up metal and butchering his followers and minions.

He turned his attention to the large suit on approach, he yelled out.

"Stop that infernal machine, it must not pass!"

His minions of the warp rushed ahead, some trying to gain a psychic foothold for an attack, but were countered by the fact that there was no warp. They threw themselves at the oncoming suit only to add to the fact that it was stronger and faster than them, as it hacked and crushed its opponents with ease.

It turned its attention to Heartslayer and fired a whole volley of missiles, each set to blast him into oblivion, at that point, even he wasn't stupid enough to sit about and wait. He jumped from sight as the missiles pulverised the ground he had been standing upon just moments later.

"Warp damning hell, you are going to die!"

XXXXX

Rey acknowledged the attack and engaged in heavier fighting, he grappled with a multi-legged fiend and crushed its skull into the ground, he was sure that a beast like this wasn't going to stop him. Burning up the ground he jumped back into the air before the numbers of the enemy almost swarmed him.

He brought out his close combat knives and fired off a couple of Magellan HE rounds, the explosive shells sent a loud blast devastating all those in range. Rey retreated back to ground where he found some group of eldar warriors heavily outnumbered, he joined the fray as the enemy engaged the eldar.

It was no surprise that the eldar were startled by the suit, Rey knew that the UCAF had never mentioned the creation of the MVF corps and the main AVF series. He loaded another barrage of rounds and unloaded the M50 at the nearest cluster of enemy troops. But still they ensued to bring him down under numbers.

He looked at them with a grin, he knew that they'd try, which is why he took the brunt of their force to bring out the AIS- Anti-infantry shrapnel. The suit bucked back and faced the masses and then 4 canisters launched from its arms and legs, each spread to cover a certain area.

The demon minions had little idea of what was to come, but if your enemy isn't afraid, then you should. The canisters detonated with heavy cracks, as thousands of thousands of high velocity rounds covered the ground and pierced anything without subsequent protection.

The demons were showered by the razor sharp needles, either piercing them in the eyes or any vulnerable section of skin; they dropped to the ground in droves, some still twitching from the attack. Rey scanned the area to make sure that all targets were neutralised, the scans revealed that all enemies were down.

Once he finished, he set his suit on the eldar and began to disembark, the suit top removed and then the carapace, his body was now in front of the eldar and looking a bit pale, his combat skin was still on, but his flesh looked white as snow and as clear.

He remembered the UCAF contact protocols for the eldar, since their arrival 3 years prior, he was supposed to report to the nearest exarch, which had a rank above him.

"Rey 0499 of the UCAF MVF Division 5, reporting." He said to the one he identified as an exarch.

The tall slender figure of the Howling Banshee replied.

"UCAF? What do you speak of child?"

XXXXX

Heartslayer was sure that this walking box was nothing short of unstoppable; he had to avoid the damned machine because of its superior weaponry and skills. Now the machine scoured the region looking for him or any surviving demons.

The machine stopped and was then simply stayed immobile for the next few hours; Heartslayer decided to make his move and escape to the other regions, hopefully find some remaining minions and try to escape from the Craftworld.

He hurried down to the lower levels and grabbed the nearest of his remaining warrior loyal to him and the others who still remained somewhat smart.

XXXXX

Rey looked a bit surprised, he assumed that this was an eldar who was affiliated with the UCAF, but it seemed his assumption was misplaced and now he was in the vicinity of unknowns. He looked at the banshee exarch and asked.

"Ma'am, I'm not sure about how to proceed with the current set of events. I will be contacting my superiors to report of the current situation, my apologies for the confusion." He said.

He quietly stood back and contacted the admiral from a long range link, his neural paths activating, his eyes glowed of soft blue and his mind was accessing the neural net. Once locating the admiral, he signalled the fleet.

"Admiral Valek, this is Rey Actual, I've located unknowns, and hostiles, it seems I have ID positives of chaos forces and eldar, it seems there's been a significant battle, the eldar exarch has explained that they have no ID on any of UCA Forces, I suggest caution." He stated.

"Acknowledged Rey Actual, however we've got worse problems, a fleet of covenant ships appeared, approximately 200,000km and closing fast, you need to regroup with your unit at the centre region near a large spire. The Eldar forces in the Regis system have been alerted and we've called in for as many reinforcements as possible, but if you can't get a subsequent defence in time, abandon the craftworld."

"Yes sir, I've acknowledged all objectives." He replied with a robotic tone.

He switched off his neural link and looked back at the eldar, they were curious as to why he had frozen in the spot and began to blink, but they hadn't encountered Rey units before, their neural links were hardwired into the inter systems network.

"My admiral states that there is an approaching enemy force of 50 ships, possibly more, we have little time, I must regroup and prepare for the attack, I am sorry but I am required to depart as soon as possible." He stated.

"Enemy ships? Here and now?" She asked baffled.

"Yes, covenant fleet of 50-75 they have a super carrier amongst them and the fleet is going for the craftworld, Kher-Ys as you call it is no longer defendable, once the boarding parties arrive, the entire craftworld will become a killing ground for them, unless a sizeable defensive measure can be formed in time." He stated.

"I see, though I may suggest something, if you can help." She asked.

"Yes?"

"Go to the lower levels of the large dome only to your right, there is likely a surviving group of our kin, if you can call them together to fight back and route the demons that remain near them, they can reach the chamber of souls, and there they may be able to awaken our only chance of defence." She explained.

"Very well, consider it done, I shall contact all available forces to search for survivors while I take to the chambers, please remain in a defendable position, the UCAF marines will arrive once I suggest your plan." He said as he jumped back into his suit.

As the AVF lifted off the ground and flew in the direction given, Rey made contact with the admiral.  
>"Sir, local suggestion from eldar has revealed possible means of defence, though it will be time consuming."<p>

"Well that may not be very good, those covenant troop ships are already inbound and we don't have sufficient forces to take on that super carrier, the 14th and 23rd fleets are on route to our location, however they won't make it until we've already engaged the majority of the covenant. We can deploy if need be, but that would mean stranding over 85,000 personnel on that ship and I doubt that they'd have enough troops to hold back over 150,000 plus." The admiral replied.

"Sir either battle will be costly, but this craftworld has what the troops need, ground, the eldar void shields are still functional, if I can get enough repairs to the primary systems and get the troops to hold defence the covenant would be thinned down by the superior defences."

This was a desperate situation, call in for the cavalry and sacrifice thousands of troops, or hold the ground and weather the storm. He didn't like the situation or the sacrifice of the marines, but he saw what Rey knew, the ground on the craftworld was the only means of defence, and that was in advantage of the UCAF, they had more time.

"Very well, all ships begin deployment of infantry to heavy armour all MVFs to be deployed across the board including platforms, entrench positions and wait out the covenant. All naval ships are to draw back as soon as all troops are deployed." He ordered.

The admiral looked at Rey.  
>"You have your window lieutenant, now get those defences up and clear the streets, you've got 2.5 hours and a lot of troops, Major Kyle will be on the defensive."<p>

XXXXX

The thrumming engines of the pelican drop-ships made him feel like he was home once more, heading to war, but it was a shallow home, the troop transport was only half of what it was back then, only half of those troops on this vehicle were familiar and the rest were shipped straight from the academies and open fields.

The 4th division was reborn, but with many of its original 9000 plus troops from other planets rather than Regis or Krugis, this made the transition from one field to another quite difficult, many new faces were prepared and scared, it was natural to be scared, and natural to be prepared.

Kyle had heard about what was on this ship, and also about what support that he was receiving, the UCAF had deployed all their MVFs here, the versatile suits would make excellent means of defence and offence against the covenant.

He readied his MA5C [II] series, the prototype to a new magnetic driver installation for the UCA Forces, he prepped his AP and HE rounds and attached his sliding bayonet at the end. There were reports of unknown hostiles attacking the eldar aboard, they needed to not only hold the covenant back, but clear the ship as well.

The pelican reached through the docks and into the main domes, he could see the perfect scenery marred bay corpses and other objects, the place was littered with things. But he could see where the MVFs had cleared the region, masses of stitched earth and burnt pockmarks.

As they reached the side where the Covenant boarders were to come through, he ordered his marines.  
>"Okay you leather necks, we've got over 700km of wraithbone and unknown to contend with, and those covies sons of bitches on their way in, so get ready for hell. Death is our way!"<p>

"Death is our way, and death is our end, so let us become like death!" They yelled in response.

He could see the fury in their eyes; the place was going to hell, literally.

XXXXX

Sale'thaea the maiden daughter of the once proud Autarch of Kher-Ys, ran through the ruined buildings and smoking streets of her home, Kher-Ys had been lost and she and many of her kin captured and violated, but not like her, she had gone and done something far worse.

She had yet to comprehend and accept that she could have fallen so blindly into lust to that damned keeper of secrets, who had the warp gate key stolen from her home. And then they came, in force and in numbers, and soon a day later she was in the clutches of that monster.

But only a few hours ago things had suddenly changed, the craftworld had shifted and the locks of flesh that imprisoned her were gone, she could run freely through the streets, and had heard of fighting nearby. She was hoping to regroup with her kin and battle back, and hopefully retake their home.

But she doubted that any of her kin would ever side with her, the damned monster known as Heartslayer boasted of her downplay and how things had come to pass, and her father suffered the worst of torments, and then he was killed.

Now she could only grieve as she ran through the empty streets. She hoped that fate would guide her to her death so that she at least retained some honour or dignity in such despair. But none yet, she still had to succeed in recovering her home, if it was the last thing she'd do.

As she rounded the corner to the high spires of the city, she could see star cannon fire and shuriken bolts tracing the skies, there were higher chances that her kin were alive now, and she needed to find them.

It was at this point she heard of a great roar, and she turned to see a large suit flying in the air, she could see the language of the humans, it was of UCAF and had a large bird of prey behind the shield.

"What was going on?"

XXXXX

On the secluded worlds of the Regis system, at the temple of Reverence, the vindicators watch out of their posts for all and anything that may approach the sacred temples. These buildings stretch over hundreds to thousands of meters, and at their highest point the temples reside, there the forerunner architecture boldly melds with the human.

Sharp and smooth ceilings are covered with silver and blue, each outline perfect to the last micro-millimetre, there was little that could mar such intricate designs. Taldeer could see that, or Aisha Taldeer as her full name would state, in the human tongue.

She had spent the past 3 years here, in the temples of Reverence and Clarity, each a symbol of the course of power she had strived to learn with her other seers. She wasn't surprised when she found it mildly difficult; there was no illusion of truth or light.

The practice of the foresight was harsh and severe, but also enlightening and relaxing, and retaining, this form of power she had never seen, or ever knew existed in the universe. The forerunners had once perfected the arts of heaven; this was seen as one, a mystical form of trance in the universe at absolute peace.

The power of foresight was granted through the possession of the forerunner mind, a complex strand of calculation and harmony, but it didn't require such a complex mind, not all of the time. The adepts had learnt some of the power to their best possible extent, and that was where Taldeer strived to surpass, to reach the apex of her own powers.

But this was where the difficulties lay, she had to separate her mind from her body, and in much like the divining the Kilithikadya, there was nothing so simple. She began to form her new complex around this art of thought and soon discovered how to control it.

But in doing so, she required to extend the powers she had, this is where things became complex, the quantum mind, as the forerunner archives had stated, required a pure sense of direction, each one can determine events, if played in correct order.

But every time she attempted to reach the point of foresight at its peak, she was constantly driving too far into the future or the past, she could not determine where exactly to look. This complication was the fault that she could not control, without a quantum mind she had no means of fully grasping such a power to its full extent.

It was then that she had tried other areas of the forerunner powers, other divinations of the soul, but that was where she could find no common ground, much relied too heavily in the physical plane and thus it rendered her powers almost moot.

That was when she met with an Advent, named Ikage; he was a Spartan alpha and one of the most powerful of the advents. He happened to be a warrior granted the powers of the quantum complex, and he explained the procedure to become one, he decided to then train her himself.

This caught many of the other members of the order off guard, the advents were never to take such apprentices, even in the face of war, and if they are not of forerunner descent. But tradition was required to change, and for the last 101,000+ years of reactivating these powers he decided to bend one for the greater good.

She was astounded by the complexities in the mind of one who was so young, and who happened to be a simple soldier, he was raised in the arts of war, yet he was trained in the use of great power. His combined strength and skill with his powers made him a warrior nothing short of unstoppable.

She learnt the paths of what he called the truesight, foresight was something that was granted to those of forerunner descent, and thus it made such difficulties. So he taught her the other paths to follow, and soon she learnt more than the past 2 years.

And she also gained a raw sense of respect and attachment to the great warrior, even if it was minute, she wasn't sure how to express herself, but he knew and said that she really didn't need to say anything. Once all he could teach her was passed, her graduated her, and left her some of his holo-disks and Nova records, each to teach to others.

But the gift he granted her was greater, in their ceremony, he granted her the complex of souls, the quantum mind, how it was shaped and formed, and formed one for her. It was an experience that she never forgot and an experience that truly shaped how these forerunners thought.

Her mind was open to the beauty of light and the coordination of such complex patterns of matter and reality, she was then through a matrix of life and how it formed. And then she entered the mind of Ikage himself.

There she met with his personalities, only one though, his innocence. This young boy smiled at her and began to ask her if she truly loved the man that he was or if she was just fond, the question wasn't serious, however she answered.

After this meeting the judgement of her mind was completed and the process to recovery was short, she was in the temple with her kin, who had asked her to what end she learnt from the forerunners. She gave them and example; the lights shimmered when she thought about them.

It was only weeks after some of her kin graduated, but not in the same manner, they'd be trained by her and graduated under her judgement. And now it was slightly slow, everything since her graduation she tended to well and true, but her mind drifted in the light, and then back out.

She thought of what remained in the universe, and how lonely it was for her people, she thought back to Ikage, and wondered if she should have replied differently. But being alone was just part of life, at times, she still had a small part of her personality that wished there were more of her kin to actually speak to.

Needless to say, one human saying was, 'careful what you wish for.'

XXXXX

Rey 0499 dropped into the main spire, the architecture ignited by fires from plasma strikes, he had secured the region for the bone singers to start up getting some of the heavier weapons and more advanced defences active. Wraithlords and war walkers were now walking over the field, and he could see a few more viper skimmers up and about, but much of the eldar were focused on regrouping, not fighting the covenant forces on approach.

The additional defences were good, but with sheer numbers the covenant were flooding in from all docks, Rey had ordered all defenders take a tri-triangular counter offensive formation to split any advances. He knew that the troops would do so, and with Major Kyle of the 9th they'd succeed, but the casualties were going to be high if the troops didn't receive any help from the eldar.

He headed over to one of the main engagements over in one dome, the covenant armour had difficulties working in such tight spaces near buildings, but that didn't mean that their lighter armour was worse off. The narrow fields of fire cut off the UCAF missiles HEAT squads from taking good shots, lasers were now being used along with M40 grenades.

Thermal charges were in most of the city fighting, but the subsequent troop displacement had driven most of Kyle's forces into entrenched positions to hold, and made it easier for enemy snipers. At this point the marauders were desperate to punch by with scouts and recons, but the head to head battle was slow.

MVF teams had scattered to cover as much of the field as possible, but city fighting wasn't the strong points of mobile versatile frames, the MKIII series were not meant for CQC. His Zodiac MKIV was made for speed and agility, not to mention high versatility, which made him moot in the sense of heavy armour.

He could only fire from distance and avoid any stray or concentrated fire, bringing his Magellan back up to snipe any armour that happened to be within eye shot. But from the enemy numbers, there was little issue of losing armour and getting another one.

It was about 300,000+ assault force with a lot of armour; he wouldn't actually be surprised if the covenant even brought out…

His reflexes kicked in, he narrowly dodged a beam round, and it was over 5 cm blast focus that meant...

"Sir Enemy Frames, Revenant Guards!" Someone yelled.

Rey could see 4 contacts, RVFs, Ranger class, each one was a powerful adaptation of the MVFs and the AVF models, and he could see that they were approaching fast. He bucked the suit at full tilt to the ground; he avoided another shot by scant centimetres from his visor, which meant that these were atmospheric types with boosters.

He removed his M50 Vulcan and loaded a HEAT guidance missile, he dove behind cover, one suit passed to the opposite side of the building he was hiding behind, another from his right and another on his left, and one coming from above.

He was cornered, and outnumbered, but not beaten, he loaded a flare. It was then that the two suits from both flanks and one above appeared, they were blinded, and the pilots unable to see due to the polarising flare, they recoiled from the sight trying to recalibrate visuals, to which Rey used it to his advantage.

The unit above could barely see as the large shadow in the middle of the light fired off a round, the pilot startled barely twitched, the suit was struck in the carapace and exploded vibrantly. Rey avoided fire from the units on the ground that only realised what happened.

Rey leapt from over the building and targeted the suit on the ground, it didn't see the attack until Rey pelted it with M50 rounds, the Havoc rounds tearing into the suit; it went down in the barrage and collapsed. The two suits quickly regrouped and chased Rey.

One suit removed a long rifle, the beam charge fired another 2 focus blasts, each scathing his suits armour plating, and he fired EM rounds into the skies to blind side the sniper. Unfortunately for him, the closer unit still in pursuit was catching up, and avoided another blinding, it began to fire rapid repeaters at him, the plasma rounds chasing him in a daze of light.

It was then that Rey reversed and pulled his suit into a circular jump, he appeared behind the enemy suit, which anticipated the attack, but didn't anticipate what method of attack. The plasma stormed into a blaze of light which should have taken down Rey, but he wasn't there.

The alarms peaked as the elite pilot realised his mistake, a hologram, which meant… the pilot turned in horror to face the dual blades of the Zodiac's fusion shield knives. The blades cut cleanly into the suit and then flexed the blades back into the shield, tossing the dead suit away.

The explosion confused the long ranged sniper who had recalibrated his sniper; the rifle scope told him that the battle should had been theirs. He only noticed something wrong when a flash of light came through, he paused only for a moment, before his front suit visor exploded.

Rey retracted his Magellan extended stock cannon, he replaced the weapon for his M50 again before he headed back to the field. The covenant was serious this time, they'd never bring a full tactical team unless they wanted this place, and he could only hope there were no juggernauts in range.

XXXXX

Kyle had seen bad, but this was worse, not since Gordon's Corridor or the battle of Tyrie had he seen such numbers, the covenant had been damned furious to lose a fleet, but to bring in a special combat force, with armour and suits was something more than extreme.

He fired another round at the black armoured grunts, he took down another suited jackal, and then proceeded to ducking, as a blade of plasma missed his face, he pulled out a combat knife and shoved the blade in the throat of the alien, and unloaded the rest of his MA5C [I] series into the torso.

The smoking corpse of the alien dropped to the floor as did so many more, the covenant were hitting hard, and fast, another wave of 2000 were only 12km out and approaching, he couldn't imagine where they'd be getting so many reinforcements, but if they didn't regress, this whole place was going to end up a killing zone.

MVFs and Revenant Guards bashed into each other, blades and missiles and assortment of weapons barking and blasting, the region was exploding constantly, if he remembered this street was less messed up or damaged than when they began this fight over 3 hours ago.

But worse news was that the UCAF wasn't coming in with significant reinforcements for another 6 hours, and that was if they broke the blockade in time. He heard that eldar troops were inbound as well, even their farseer, who had been surprised to hear of the events unfolding.

Either way it didn't matter, the marine fired on, killing droves of aliens, hid weapon clicking dry as he picked his SMG out and fired another two dozen rounds, the AP caseless punching through open flesh and armour, he couldn't help but feel as though he was tired.

XXXXX

Olisi Indestri II

Idanya Sirha had been expecting nothing but pirates or just some local rabble, not 14 Mantas dropping troops all over the surface of the planet and over a dozen Protector class tau cruisers in orbit over the planet. This was a disaster in the making.

"Yuriel, bring the ship out of range, contact the rest of the fleet near Idestri III they need to know what's happened."

"I've already tried, however it seems we are too late, the colony has over 6 ships, cruisers and hundreds of energy discharges going off." Yuriel replied disturbed.

Clearly the tau had made neat work to keep their presence at a minimal, but now with the full invasion of the far eastern colonies this meant that the UCAF was going to have to deal with another external force. That was if the ship could escape the clutches of the tau, she calculated what to do next.

"Get us clear, head to Tertiary 343, they have sufficient defensive capabilities." She ordered.

She hated running from a fight but when things like this are happening, better to make it in your favor.

XXXXX

Rey 0112 woke with a start, he was strapped to a chair, or surgery table, lights and scanners monitoring him, he didn't like where this was going, he turned to see a bluish grey skinned alien only a scant few feet away, he remembered the battle, and his surrender, and then shutting off.

The being turned its attention to him and said.  
>"Ah gue'la it is good to see you awake, so it seems you have been brought in by your better judgement."<p>

"I am unit Rey-0112, division 3 of MVF program 0, and rank lieutenant." He stated.

"Yes, we have seen your neural profile, it is a very advanced piece of technology, much like our own, though yours does seem more streamlined for aesthetic purposes, and more to interface rather than hardwire." The examiner replied.

A screen with his neural relays appeared, it was hexagonal nets of thousands to millions, not like the average human but in the most complex of designs, and it was mind boggling to the tau. This boy was altered with a bio-mechanical brain that was with him since birth, this could enhance the reactions to proportions never before seen.

Which is why Shas'O Shadowstrike wished for him to convert, however that was the problem, his personality was never formed, and his mind was like that of a glass case on the edge of a table, one mistake and the thing completely shatters. The examiners had to be cautious around the gue'la and hope to find access, but the boy himself was the key.

And that was the trouble, there was little they could alter, his mind was too far complex and programmed with orders, and his personality was self-destructive, which made it worse. They needed an edge, and edge that would find something to open the doors to his mind.

But as long as the chances of killing or damaging him were present, the Shas'O would never allow such things, the boy was one of only so few, which made him the discovery of a lifetime. And possibly the key to opening a number of doors, the sheer nano-technology in his body was just one of many enhancements that the Fio'Vre wanted.

The greater knowledge wasn't easy to acquire though, as they delved deeper into the memories and patterns they were blocked from reaching core regions or complex nodes, it was a frustrating thing, as advanced as the tau were, this human had the technology that could outwit half of everything that they had.

Shadowstrike then came up with an idea.  
>"Have you thought about altering his memories?" She asked.<p>

XXXXX

Sale'thaea had engaged in the battle for the craftworld, she had managed to get some armour and new clothes from the humans who had appeared, they said that they were under orders to keep the craftworld safe and deploy as many troops to hold out as long as they can.

She was now in some lighter BDU of human armour that was surprisingly light, if not slightly bulky, the combat skin under the plates helped keep stray plasma from burning her and the plates held back a number of projectiles. But every so often she had to duck as the plates overheated.

This critical point that she was fighting at was crucial to her kin, not only as a strong point, but as a power grid, the UCAF wasn't using it to tap into the main grid the bone singers were. The conduit happened to also be keeping defenses running.

As the battle proceeded, the humans were wearing thin, every 20 covenant cost them 4 brothers in arms, but it was a fair trade considering how brutal the ground battle was. Some marines took down many more while others committed suicide to martyr themselves with their enemies.

Sale'thaea had no idea why these humans were so contempt with simply fighting these covenant rather than attacking them, it was very different. She believed that her father said that human mon'keigh were no better than dirt and they hated all those different, even themselves, short and wasted lives.

But here they were, fighting for the craftworld without a second thought and reason, they were simply doing it. She watched as a plasma mortar came towards her. It was stopped as a high pitch whine produced a shield, she looked to see a young human carrying a blue device in hand, and his eyes were glowing.

"You should pay a bit more attention, these covies don't usually give heads up on weapons fire."

Sale'thaea replied. "I'll keep that in mind mon'keigh."

The human simply dropped the shield and saluted to her.  
>"By the way, don't call the person who saves you by a slang insult. My name is Daniel."<p>

XXXXX

Iona was in the city of Kaida, the city of refuge, which was a fitting name for how many refugees and freelancers were here in such a city. It happened to also be the symbol for a new life and a new chance, as many new opportunities were found in such a place.

Iona waited as she watched for the shuttles to arrive; it was then that 5 large transport liners arrived, one as her marked ship for the new recruits. She wasn't so sure that Inquisitor Mendel had been so open to allowing a traitor to walk again amongst the righteous, but he had said that the boy had no taint. She trusted his opinion, but wanted to see the boy for herself.

As thousands of families and refugees poured from the port, the largest group stood out, 40 tall figures plus a mix of races and classes, they were like oil on water, standing out the most. She and her retinue were armed and quite stable, but the assassin named Renessa Tobisius was eager.

"Stay your blades, we don't need a scene, especially in public, and we need to speak with this Defiant, before we continue." She cautioned.

Rene complied and withdrew her knives.  
>"Judgement is only for the guilty, and the xeno." She replied.<p>

"As we all know." Iona stated.

The group met her 12 other members greeting the 40 odd people from the trip. She stated to the young looking marine with some incisions on his face.  
>"I assume that you are Alex the Defiant?"<p>

"Yes I am." He replied.

"Good, you are now in the evaluation of the inquisition, and your brothers are now part of our sect in the UCAF." She stated boldly.

"What?" One of the others said.

"The UCAF gave us command over only those who are part of our outstanding forces, and Commander Gabriel and Captain Thule has agreed, with those of the inquisition and the imperial forces, you are now part of the Shadow watch force."

They stood there in absolute surprise.  
>"What's the shadow watch?" Alex asked.<p>

"We're covenant incursion specialists, sent to route all covenant dealings as well as corruption and xeno, we have a detachment of death watch included." She grinned as the brother sergeant saluted.

"Welcome to shadow watch, I'll be your new instructor."

XXXXX

At the top of her estate, Kara watched the city lights, so much happening, and so little time, the inquisition had no idea of her involvement here, but it was just how they find her that concerned her the most. The covenant was a drop in the ocean of things that could go wrong, but the inquisition was the thing that seemed to drop the literal hammer on the top of this.

She drank another cup of Nova Ale, the stuff was bitter and warm, and only soothed and cooled with the open air, she savoured the taste and leant back on the chair, her eyes focused on what the ceiling patterns were like.

"Oh maid, please come over and give me my cup of Sala this Nova is finished." She said.

The eldar maid wandered over, her hips bulging out the sides of her uniform, she was not very happy.

"Oh don't look at me like that, it's been 3 years, get over it." She said getting the cup.

XXXXX

Heartslayer had escaped, only just, and only with half of all those who he had managed to gather, the rest he left to their deaths, the covenant cruiser he had commandeered was large, and enough for him to take, he broke and hacked his way to the top, and had the alien gas balls enthralled by his flesh wielders, they used their tethers to override the minds of each and control them.

And now, the ship was theirs they escaped the battle zone with ease, and made the jump away from the doomed craftworld, he couldn't help but wonder if those foolish eldar would survive the onslaught the covenant were bringing with them, but he decided to pay attention to the pink and purple coloured deck.

This perfectly crafted vessel was now his and he was to make it a monument to cruelty and subversion with the covenant, they'd coerce the masses of blind fools, he changed into the shape of a tall strong male elite and grinned at the new shell.

His servants went about converting the crew and feasting on their flesh, but he had only so many left now, he needed to gain more, and the best place, the planet of the foolish and delusional covenant, once he's controlling the council, he'll be unparalleled in power of their armies, and begin a new age for himself.

XXXXX

Here's to you all, I do wish that you'd actually review and actually give me opinions and what needs to be done, either than that, like to see you guy's next chapter!

Oh here's Eric Archer.

XXXXX

Awakening in the shelter of the worn home Archer started in the light, he could smell something cooking, he turned his head expecting to see his old home on Tarsus II, but no, it was a rundown place in the middle of nowhere and he could see that Jezebel was there, frying something with her powers.

Not the most convenient, but still effective means. He smiled.

"How long was I out?" He asked.

The woman turned her head and replied by hugging him.  
>"Oh it's so good to see you, after all these years."<p>

Then the words hit him like bricks.  
>"Years?"<p>

She shied away, revealing much change in her figure, she was clear as daylight, her multi-coloured skin gone, and her eyes a powered blue, and she looked like his mother. But she was still so different, she had no longer any discernable markings, and her face was human like, but all that had truly changed were her wings, a greyed and white.

"It's been over 2 years since you went into a coma, thankfully, your body was psychic, a stasis field was keeping you from aging and deteriorating, but we had no means of waking you." She explained.

"So where are the others?" He asked.

"They've changed, Tharsus is no longer like him, he's become anti-social and formed a type of psychic holder like Rogul and formed a type of soul stone, and he then took off for enemies to slay, never heard of him after that. Rogul left with his own stone, one he figured out how to tie himself to the material plane with a psychic rune. And Rose found one like theirs and did same, after that none have returned, and the sword is still bound to them, you need to find them, or the gifts of chaos will kill you."

He was startled.  
>"What?"<p>

"Your soul is now scattered over an entire region, if one of us dies, a part of you goes with us, and with everyone so far, I couldn't warn them about the contract when I went over it." She babbled.

"Oh man, this isn't good. How can I find them, they could be anywhere in the galaxy by now."

"Well the sword can tell you, but it's going to be hard to actually search the systems manually."

"Well I guess I have no choice, come on, we better find those idiots."

XXXXX

A new dilemma!

Send in any requests!


	5. Chapter 5

CH5

XXXXX

We die today, and tomorrow we are reborn…

XXXXX

.com/ is the best artist on any mecha and modern looking types of military art and etc. he is the best I have ever seen.

And also thanks to him, I'll be using his helldiver armour variants for some of my characters thanks to his permission, so enjoy the new era!

.com/gallery/?offset=48#/d2ontw1

All Helldivers copyright belongs to St Theo

XXXXX

Kher-Ys

The Dawn of Days exited slip-space, along with the entire eldar void fleet, news had spread like wildfire in minutes and the eldar were inbound to locate the craftworld. At its head Rear Admiral James Vance led the assault aboard the Dawn.

He was determined to aid the front fleets with the defence of Hao when he heard of the incident, and now rallied with all of the spare ships the 9th and 11th fleets, they engaged the covenant in the system, and prepared for a special tactical drop.

Vance in the CIC could see the sheer covenant forces, nearly 170 strong, the remainder of the 6th defenders and MVFs had been sufficient in depleting the covenant, however it came at the cost of a number of their own.

And to top that off, the troops on the ground in the craftworld had reported covenant Revenant Guard and elite Juggernauts. The fleet had to break through to reach the marines before it was too late, but the sheer numbers of enemies surrounding the UCAF forces were too great.

Vance couldn't help but feel guilty to leave so many troops to die, and so did admiral Valek, they needed to break the lines of covenant, and the only way would be to launch the special forces of the 9th fleet.

The Helldivers:

In the beginning of the campaigns in the system of Prodigal, Haven had a special tactical unit prepared called Hell Bourne, however during the conflict that began against the covenant the Hell Bourne faired astoundingly well. There were some problems though with the project in relation to its designs.

The marines selected were much like Spartans and even some were considered on par with them, but the requirements were high and costly for each individual. And thus the project was considered only short term, until an alternative could be found to supplement the costs of creating the Hell Bourne.

In 2529, at the early beginning of the covenant's advance into the UCAF regions of Nova Stratus, the UCAF pulled out the major companies and appropriated control for new armaments and in the process revived the old Hell Bourne program from the grave.

It had undergone extensive reworking to bring the new project into working order, and had sent much of their equipment from high operations in Spec Ops and SF divisions. The new Hell Bourne was to be given adaptations and many were to be given options into joining the UCAF Spec Ops.

At the head of the project was Stanwell Theodore, the commander of the forces, and major leader in operations, he happened to be one of the best in the UCAF, not only as an officer but a leader. His example had given birth to the many force names used in the covenant war as well as the birth of separate forces in the UCAF.

The ACAEV (Atmospheric Containment and Assault Entry Vehicle) also known as the glaives, due to their extended forms and shapes that they are cast as, the glaives were built as the pin precision designs of the HEVs and ADCs (Atmospheric Drop Chutes) the glaives are a unique due to their specific use.

Each pod consisted of Energised Phase Shift Reactive Polymers, which were powerful combinations of Iridium and Titanium and energy absorbing and containing material called Aethium.

Down in the lower bays, the marines prepared for the drop, ODSTs lined the front rows as usual, and the ADSTs loaded onto their separate racks of pods on the middle rows, and at the end of this all were the Hell Bourne, Blackstorm watched as he and 4 other squads prepared for the drop.

Blackstorm was also known as Captain Matthias-01213, only he knows of his last name and private details, even if he had not spoken of it in years. His thoughts were interrupted by his lieutenant, Tanya-01541.

"Captain, we've got another 5 minutes before we launch, is something wrong?" She asked with caution.

Matthias wasn't a violent man, and she knew it, but the captain was one of many senior officers who had seen more action than that of the entire unit since the beginning of the war. He looked stoic in his body expression, and she hadn't seen his face in over 3 years.

"I'll be fine lieutenant, get Ken and the others into their pods, we've got a drop to make, and they know it. I've got to check on Mitchel." He replied neutrally.

Tanya had never seen her CO like this, it was so different from when he was younger, and now it was like looking into the shell of someone greater. She went to the ACAEVs and ordered the rest of the team to suit up and prepare for launch.

Meanwhile Matthias arrived at the hatch of unit, Mitchel-1491, he was inside his Heavy Tactical Assault Armour, working on tunning the suit properly before the drop, his ADC was loaded nearby and his visor was active. Mitchel was once a person who was only 13, now he was 3 years of age since his initial rebirth into the project.

Mitchel was once a proud member of the UCAF and of the first division that was assigned to the new officers such as Matthias, but during the beginning of the war, 4 years back, at the end of the Turossa Campaign Mitchel met an unfortunate end, he was impaled by shrapnel from his own weapon when he fired point blank into an enemy Revenant Guard. The blast subsequently dealt with the enemy, and all hostiles had been destroyed, but Mitchel was killed.

ONI Section III then began testing for new pilots for the MVFs and AVFs, and then the HTAAs, the latter were impossible due to the requirement of physical parts of the body. And then the other projects came where his near dead body could and would be used.

Matthias would never had signed the contract for a subordinate if he knew what was to follow, but then he had his soldier back again, just not in the same shape and form, the ONI teams had wired the remains of his body inside of a stasis shell and integrated him into the HTAA.

Knocking twice, the suit opened up and revealed a metallic body casted inside of the suit; it moved some optics in his direction and asked.

"Sir what may be your presence here?" It asked.

"Nothing, I was just checking your daily health and functions for the drop today, are you good soldier?" He asked.

"Yes sir, I am operational and completely functional in all my parameters, do not be concerned about my welfare, you should see to your own." Mitchel replied.

"I checked on them don't worry, they said that they were going to be fine, I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"I am ready sir, as we all are." He replied cryptically.

He knew the meaning, he knew what he said the first day, and that was enough, he nodded and left, the suit sealing up and him heading back to his pod, with only a minute left. He could see the others all prepared for the drop, he got into his ACAEV Glaive and simply harnessed himself in.

He watched as the ships all read green the lights filling the outside of his pod, he could hear com chatter and the usual prepositioning of troops before they began, then the timers hit zero, and he watched as the world ship below came to meet him.

XXXXX

Kyle let off another volley of rounds at the nearest elite, blowing apart its left arm and plasma repeater before he shot it in the head with his M6C. He loaded another clip into the assault rifle before he set off into the direction of the third lines.

30 minutes until all new reinforcements hit the lines and the UCAF could fight the covenant back, but things were going bad, the slow advance of the covenant ground troops may had been costly for them, but the same could be said for the UCAF which was defending the very ground.

The ratio of casualties now stood somewhere between 1:10, with the UCAF in favour of victory, but the remainder of nearly 80,000+ troops which was about 3/4 of that initial number wasn't good. The covenant still had majority of their troops still in the streets.

The eldar had managed to amass troops and pockets all over the craftworld, with the UCAF holding the largest section of the ship. But that didn't mean that the covenant wasn't going to be dissuaded for attacking, their troops had re-amassed even larger, bringing with it an additional 1.2 million on top of the 300,000 they had deployed.

The UCAF was now being slowly isolated and cut off, but hopefully the rescued and freed eldar could add some more firepower in for the marines, starcannons and brightlance weapon platforms fired in continuous patterns at the enemy armour and infantry.

The UCAF had every bit of armour running about from each location in rotation to the combat situations, which seemed to off put the covenant tactics of full scale assault, as they'd be cut from each position by moving artillery and armour.

Air supremacy was in the hands of the UCAF as well, though that was due to the eldar aircraft and starfighters that remained active. Skimmers and bombers dived in wherever they could, and it seemed many had simply gone to fight on their own better judgement.

The marines held the covenant off from any other locations such as critical zones that the eldar did not wish to be damaged, and the seer chambers and something called the soul of the ship, the UCAF didn't really bother with details.

Marines used many long barrelled AT-AP weapons, including cobra tanks and the Black Adders, the long ranged black coloured armoured tanks used for in city assaults and defence. The rounds from the cannons punched holes in the covenant lines.

Kyle hopped over to the nearest command hawk and called in.

"All forces from the east ridge of the main complex due east report."

"All sections have been holding, however ammunition on the main lines are running low, we've switched to enemy auxiliaries to fend covenant lines off. Rearmament required as soon as available munitions arrive." The requisition officer replied.

"Duly noted, any other concerns?"

"None to report so far, though troops on the far west of the seer chambers say they're having difficulties with the eldar, required some assistance on resolving matter."

"Okay." Kyle replied.

He couldn't believe the nerve of some people, he hefted him MA5C for a LMG Harbinger, he pulled out a long set of chain belts and clipped them onto his bandolier; he grabbed the nearest visor and armguard and attached them to his already heavily modified MKIII Onyx.

He jogged at a steady pace through the rungs and ruins of streets and made his way over to the nearest vehicle, a single occupant motorcycle called a viper sat in the field, armed and ready for use. He was an officer and no one was using it, so he kicked up the bike and drove with a speed that put most ghosts and mongooses to shame. The bike drove past the battle of streets and ruins of vehicles until till it reached the far lines, where troops were dug in for the ride.

He parked exactly where a cloaked ranger was hiding, startling the sniper out of his wits, Kyle simply budged on through and headed to the argument, there he saw that a single warlock and a farseer were arguing with a marine on defending the ground.

"Look here, we don't have the man power to push their lines, and reinforcements are going to be stretched getting here as it is, can this whatever you call it just wait for a bit longer until the main force arrives and takes out their troops?"

"You do not disrespect the spirits of our fellow kin mon'keigh, they deserve as much as you do, and their chamber had been defiled as it was when the great thirster arrived, that left the doors open to the chamber, and access to anyone." The seer hissed.

"Look all I'm saying is, we can't break through, not without enough troops or renewed manpower, and firepower, and we're half running on reserves as it is." He gestured to the emptied crates.

That was when Kyle decided to interject.  
>"Which is exactly why we can't break through, without another troop wave or munitions drop, we're completely outgunned and outnumbered. And from the reports, the covenant had brought an additional 1 million into this fight, so unless you want to wade your sorry pale helmeted butt into enemy lines, you'd better listen to my officer."<p>

The farseer and warlock looked at him with cold stares, though the warlock was more open to anger, as she hissed back.  
>"What you do not understand is that power of our kin must never be taken or touched by the unworthy, or the tainted, you have no say for our people."<p>

"Well if that's so, listen here, you better understand is that the UCAF have almost no troops to send, and we've got about 20,000 enemy troops between us and that chamber, then you better call in an army with a lot of munitions cause we can't and aren't going to break through." He replied with a sarcastic and hysteric tone.

Kyle waited as the two other eldar calmed down, they needed to think about the approach carefully, but only because Kyle was right, no one in their right minds would divert any significant force to deal with lethal enemy's right at this point in time. But Kyle already formulated a plan; he was met by the officer in charge.

"Sir, Tae Hung Sou (Korean), Commander of the 4th brigadiers of Kareson, at your service." He saluted.

The major returned the salute and replied.  
>"We've got reinforcements landing on the main docks as we speak commander, and the munitions drops will be coming in, though there's still one problem."<p>

"What's that sir?" He asked.

"We've still got insufficient forces, and I have no doubt that once the munitions crates come, the eldar will argue for a definite attack, but they'd take for stealth. Do you have any armoured teams in reach?" He asked.

The commander checked his roster on who had arrived and where, he scrolled to his armoured forces and accounted them.  
>"We have a VALKARIES class HMIS MKIV in range sir, and one MAWP-Trojan in range as well."<p>

Kyle went over his memory on the specs of each, he replied.  
>"Get the com to that HMIS and bring it in, it's the smallest armoured unit we have, and probably the best bet to get through those lines. The MAWP isn't necessary, it's too bulky for this kind of mission we're about to go on."<p>

"Yes sir, I'll get the suit here ASAP." He stated.

As the commander went over to set up com link to the suit, Kyle looked into the skies to see the approaching drop pods and troops. He could see the hundreds to thousands of ODSTs hitting land north of the chambers, and the many ADST that were now reinforcing the weary defenders.

He could also see the approaching forms of ships and drop-ships and gunships, the UCAF was probably sending the best down. Eldar relations were probably going to solidify once all the marines cleared the craftworld of all enemies.

He watched as an auto-lift arrived, it carried a large 50ton crate of supplies, it dropped it down nearby, the marines on duty hurried over and picked open the locks, medics went over to receive some spare materials and medicines, morphine and bio-gel went out fast.

The auto-lifts arrived in another wave, and 5 more crates arrived, and enough to supply the marines to hold the line against the covenant a bit longer. He watched as the troops unloaded another crate packed with ammo for the HMIS teams.

And then the suit arrived, the large black and grey carapace with white lines streaked over it, it looked like a phantom of sorts, the face plate had the face of the multi spectral layers designed for ranged and stealth combat.

It walked over to the crates, the engineer teams arrived with technicians, their nova tools went to work, picking off damaged plates and replacing them with new titanium and iridium plates, the new armour did not shine. The suit was re-armed in moments, the troops set to work in arming the new Kraken M20 auto-cannon with blast shield and belt feed. A silencer was being attached, Commander Tae made sure that the suit was prepped for the coming mission.

The left arm was replaced with a Cestus power glove; the 5 finger power fist looked as though it could crack the armour on a dreadnaught with ease. Then the large feeds of bullets and clips and grenades were laid in piles, and then the UCAF armour hefted HEAT missiles to the guns.

The pilot stepped outside of the suit, his face covered by his UV plate, the V shaped visor stared at the ground as he approached. The eldar had finished speaking over what to do to reach their craft world's heart.

"Major, we have come to a conclusion." She stated.

"I knew you would, which is why I've already thought about a dozen steps ahead, and don't read my mind when in proximity to me, only when necessary, not when you feel like it." He replied.

The warlock and seer could see the re-armed marines and troops and the pilot who was standing with Kyle. The seer asked.  
>"So you agree that it is now possible to reach the spirit chamber?"<p>

"Yes, and no, but I knew both ways, you'd go on after the chamber anyway, and the UCAF alliance with the other eldar had stated of our assistance either cases. So yeah, we're ready to leave, but you better bring more than just yourselves, and preferably you'd bring those who can conceal themselves." He replied with a condensing tone.

The seer kept her cool, as did the warlock, who seemed to stare at him through her helmet. They noticed the young pilot and asked.  
>"Who is this?"<p>

The pilot saluted, he didn't need to know when to state his name.  
>"Carth Odell, the 22nd armoured division corporal."<p>

The eldar probed his mind, as they did even though being warned not to, but once checking his mind, they found he was a capable marine, and pilot.  
>"You've quite a history boy."<p>

"So I've heard." Kyle stated.

Commander Tae returned.  
>"Sir, the armoured 4th have reported to be repelling troops on the far western lines, they can divert some firepower when we need it, and also enemy forces are trying to close the gap, they've redirected their troops to the far south lines. It seems the admiral kept his promise."<p>

"He always keeps his promises; just don't lose faith in him. We better get moving soon, commander, bring one squad of marauders and leave the best officer in commander here for now, we need to move." Kyle ordered.

"Yes sir, I'm on it." He began to walk off.

"So, let's see, one suicide mission and a lot at stake, nothing new I guess." He said quietly.

He smiled and asked.

"By the way, you never introduced yourselves."

The eldar looked at him and seemed to hesitate with words, and then stated.

"Farseer Zadera, I am the eldest seer currently present and the only survivor of the attack on the main chambers."

(Copyright to .com/ I created the name and bio for a female warlock her created. Though give him the credit. He deserves it…)

The warlock presented herself. "I am Vara Ishal, I am the warlock of Kher-Ys, one of many, though I have yet to see any others."

"Okay, seeing as we've just finished, up, Carth is going to go stealth in his armour, you better be ready for the trip, cause this is the only time I'm going to actually bother to help you." He stated.

XXXXX

The Glaives struck the grounds with ease, their penetration hulls embedding them into the ground, the pods had a rough trip, but all were present, Matthias checked his team com and saw all were good. He exited his pod and stood upon the ground of the craft world.

He lifted his AR, the sleek black chrome finished seemed to blend into the background, the rifle carried similar ammunition to all MA5 types, however all weapons were modified as the helldivers required specific differences for each mission.

He checked the 15.1X3.21 chamber and cocked it again, the carbine was meant for this, he loaded a grenade into the secondary and checked the tac screen as the squad grouped around him, the helldivers gathered with rifles at side, Mitchel arrived last as he remained in cover to hide him from too obvious a target.

"Sir, what's our advance?" Tanya asked.

Matthias gestured to the map he had.  
>"We make our approach from the south, cut across this large spire, and then to this opening, we should encounter the 41st ADST, they've got orders to secure positions around the perimeter of the remaining defenders. We've got hit targets all over the place, after we've dealt with them, we're to freelance. All of you understand?" He explained.<p>

"Yes sir." They all replied.

"Good, let's get to work Aspire squad."

(If you know who Tanya is, then you'll know more of what's going to happen.)

XXXXX

The 28+2 troops and 1 armoured HMIS and about 1 squad of eldar warriors and rangers with a seer and 1 warlock walked through the remains of many buildings, the covenant weren't responsible, and it was the demons of Slaanesh, who happened to come in rather large numbers.

Though thanks to the arrival of the UCAF and the Covenant the demons were easily defeated, and quickly dealt with, the eldar majority was now secure and safe; the only problem was defending an entire ship with the surface area of an s/m planet.

As they arrived at the chambers to the eldar craftworld' soul crystal, the marines split into 4 squads and covered the path leading to the massive chamber. Stair cases and still standing buildings lined the two sides of the path, and many statues.

The road crossing in the front about 100m was not clear, a small portion of the covenant army was parked in front of the doors to the chamber and along the road. Kyle could see from his scope that the covenant was interested in what was behind those doors, and also in the region itself.

He could also see that the farseer was nothing short of infuriated and frustrated, the enemy was trying to breach a sacred place, and was slowly succeeding. Kyle and Tae didn't need to be geniuses to know how effective covenant means of breaching doors were.

The enemy numbers were at least an outpost, nearly 10 squads and 5 armoured units with plenty of air cover and automated defences, including a small team of Revenant Armour; this was not going to be an easy walk in the park, or even a forest.

Kyle huddled over to the farseer who was trying to come up with a logical means of attack.  
>"So, I guess this means you have no idea how to break their defences?"<p>

She broke from thought and replied annoyed.  
>"What does this matter to you mon'keigh?"<p>

"It matters because you're technically our only means of continued peace between us and your kin, on top of which, I can't just leave the damsel in distress, now can I?" He replied.

"Humorous, you'd make a fine jester, but not a good harlequin." She replied rolling her eyes.

"Well, enough for now, we've got a problem, there are about a good 200 or so covenant between here and that door, so let's see, I'll get the first two heavy units, and also Carth is here so that lessens the load for us, but those two revenant armoured units are going to be a problem." He began.

"If you spare that heavy platform to snipe one, while the missile crews deal with the wraith tanks then my marines will engage in head to head. But there's a hitch, once engaged the missile crews can't fire on the remaining enemy suits, and if we wait too long to engage the ground infantry and armour will start to hammer our position."

"So we eliminate the enemy armoured units before engaging, but also incapacitate their Revenant suits?" She summarised.

"Essentially yes, but if you could help, join the battle with your warriors down the middle, and engage with Carth and Tae then we'd break through."

"If we are to do that, then where would you be?" She asked.

"I'll be doing some rather surprising, and you'd need to wait, I have to go get it as we're engaged in battle, because I don't want them to start aiming at me before I get the chance to pull off one of my old tricks." He responded with a grin.

"I'll never understand you're insanity human."

"We'll I'll never understand you, elf." He said before vanishing.

She was about to reply. "I'm not one of…"

Vara could only say. "He's a bit peculiar for being a mon'keigh."

"You have no idea." She replied.

XXXXX

Indrestri II

Back in the ruins of the city of Olisi the tau constructed their bases and their outposts, the UCAF persons who they captured worked to help construct many of these prefabs, the youth remained somewhat uncooperative at times.

Aun Vakun was overseeing the construction of the main outlook over the region, he could see the hundreds of UCAF humans who had no reason to hate the tau, but only resisted becoming entangled in their belief of the greater good.

Vakun was not pleased with the results however, many did not wish to join, they wanted to be free from their control, as a people on their own, he could tell that their spirits were still strong, even after a week from the initial control of the planet was the tau'.

Down below in the research facility of the base, he could tell that Shas'O Shadowstrike was planning to meet with this boy she had captured, the water caste had been successful in learning more about the mysterious suit he had piloted, but not the boy himself.

XXXXX

Avessra looked at the monitors for brain functions, they had all cleared for stable, if this procedure was completed and done without flaw, the boy would live and be reborn, and if not, he'd e vegetated for a long time.

The earth caste and water caste researchers had yet to fully grasp the complexities involved with the boy's neural interface, but they had learnt that not all sections of his brain were closed off. The memories of who his loyalties and family still remained accessible, and that was where Avessra wanted to ensure the pilot was capable of continuing his work, but loyal to the cause of the greater good.

It was then she had some regret for taking the life of one being and overwriting their existence without granting them a choice, but this was for the greater good was it not?

"We are ready to begin." One overseer reported.

"Good, begin the procedure. But be cautious, we may only have one chance."

XXXXX

Thom held Angela in his warm embrace, their last few moments together before he was being ordered for leave, the covenant advances had been foreseen and more troops closest to the enemy lines were to be sent to fight.

The young marauders and older units alike were to be sent to the field, and Thom was shipping out with the other marauders of the 131st in only the next day. He didn't wish to forget his lover though, and he didn't wish to leave her, but he had to, for both of them.

Angela was pregnant, and he was going off to fight, he didn't know if that was a curse or a blessing, but he'd never know, he could only rest next to her, until morning. Carefully running his finger over her fleur delis, he said.

"I'll be back, I promise."

She'd wake to find him gone.

XXXXX

Eureka VII- Kaida city

Kara was having her half yearly festival of Harvest beginning, as it was the beginning of the first half of the year, the city was in a happy mood for the day and everyone was getting prepared for their feasts. Kara was having a higher celebration at her home, with a feast of honour for the new founding of the first 231st marauders of Eureka.

(.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d2s08vv, just referencing this to the original creator of this character)

It was said that the marauders were to be joined with soon to be Lady Inquisitor Iona Amalthea Firenze. And she was to bring her entire retinue of newly recruited Death Watch and some members to the feast, before she was set to head out and investigate the recent reports of tau in the Indestri II system.

(BIO- Quick overview)

Amalthea was born on the world of Solomon, in an upper class merchant family, originally from the Firenze clan she was set to be recruited for the Officio Assassinatorium, her family however pulled some strings to have her recruited by inquisitor Mendel Vashti who was heading through the system.

She joined the inquisition for over 15 years and was said to be a prominent member in their efforts throughout the sector, but she had rarely took any major interests in their work. It was not until her caretaker Sobek who died in combat, that she began to realise the importance of the inquisition, even if it was to her disliking.

It would be another 5 years that she took to become a young interrogator. And as of the UCAF time of 2531 she was to become the newest member of the Ordo Hereticus.

(END)

Kara was not as happy considering the off chance that she still might get detected by the presence of such an inquisitor, but she had her doubts, ever since arriving here on Eureka VII no warp powers had worked, and if they didn't then no one else could do so.

But that didn't mean that she could drop her guard, the inquisitor still might know of more means of locating those who might know more than they're telling. But for the moment she'd enjoy her festivities, she called in her maids, who were cleverly disguised from their original forms to begin their dinner.

Kara watched as the guests arrived, hundreds of the most promiscuous and noble members of the middle class of the planet and city. They were not like the imperium, none looked either too spoiled or too rich, and she guessed it had to do with the UCAF policy of capitalizing on many individual corporations. Ever since the government had taken control of most private super corporations there had been less and less richer folk and simply more middle class.

She enjoyed this nonetheless and sought to seek out a mate, she knew that staying single out here in the world without an heir would be bad, but also she needed someone who had influence in local trade. If she played her cards right, then she'd have a plan to escape in the worst of situations, and also because of all the events with chaos and the covenant.

She walked amongst the nobles and the modest, none looked as fabulous as her, but many didn't need to, their physical and natural looks won out over most others. She'd have a hard time to impress any male at this point, but she tried to anyway, it would be a waste of such preparation.

And that was when the final guests arrived, in their large smooth moving vehicle, Wombat APC, she noted, they stepped out with guile in their spring and a bit of inquisitive air. She didn't need to be told in bold writing that this was the inquisitor; her form alone practically spoke in volumes.

But that wasn't the only thing; there were 3 space marines, 2 regular death watch, and the last an odd looking recruit with a faded mark of chaos. She knew that this wasn't going to be good, if he was a recently recovered chaos marine from the main fleet he could tell it was her, she did change forms from time to time. But it seemed his face remained stoic, and she hoped it remained that way. The other 2 were eldar, and mechainus.

She went to greet them, with as much caution as she could, a welcoming smile.  
>"Welcome to the new Harvest Moon ball, I am Lady Kara of the Wester family."<p>

The inquisitor returned the gesture of civility.  
>"Lady Kara, I am Inquisitor Iona Amalthea Firenze of the Ordo Hereticus."<p>

"It is a pleasure to meet you Inquisitor. What brings you to the festive civility of Eureka?" She asked.

"I've only come as a final stop before departing in the coming weeks, some rather tragic events in the Olisi systems and the Indestri." She replied courteously.

"Oh my, that is terrible to hear of their disappearance from command; I do hope that you'd respond to their calls for aid." Kara said in a hopeful tune.

"Well the alliance isn't going to take any risks, and with rumours of the tau being involved, and some reports of chaos forces, the UCAF wants to grant us full powers in the region and to wherever this infestation spreads." She pronounced.

"Hmm, I guess we shall see, though I have heard that the tau forces are a formidable enemy, some soldiers of the alliance who've heard of the imperial guard had spoken, some came here for some down time and spoke highly of the dangers that the guards spoke of. They don't sound so subtle." She suggested in an affirming tone.

Iona replied reassuringly. "Most of those are rumours, and if they happened to be true, just keep faith that there are those ready to fight them. The tau forces are formidable, but like all aliens, they can be defeated…" She paused and started.

"I am curious, but I believed that in your report of being mayor you said about having relatives." She asked.

"I do have some sisters living in the city and outside, however you're unlikely to run into some of them, they like their privacy." She responded with a smile.

"I assume that they do, well we better finish our conversation, and I believe that your festivities don't require me interrupting them any longer." She dismissed herself with a half grin/smirk.

The two parted company and headed on, Iona asked Corridal the brother librarian.  
>"Is there anything that I should know before we leave?"<p>

"No. This woman doesn't know a thing, either that or she's dealt with psykers before, but I doubt we'd find anything from her, for all we know she just doesn't like the imperium." The brother replied openly.

"We'll we better get going then, but I'd expect to come here once our tau problem has been dealt with, they're already becoming more of a problem and that's enough." She said heading over to where Alex and Alenia were speaking.

"So, anything you two learn while we were speaking to Lady Kara?"

Alex was the first to speak.  
>"That woman, she looks way to familiar, over 3 years ago there was a meeting with the Pastor and a Lady named Kaida the soul thrasher, she was one of the demonettes that had physical form, they were supposed to have joined us at one point but left for s system not far away."<p>

Alenia also added. "She happens to have some rather interesting maids, one had a piece of tissue that said 'Help sister, the demon has many forms and she seeks to continue her life here, but you must act cautiously, she intends to survive, but spare us this disgrace…' I have no doubt that Kara is a demon."

Iona thought it through, there was no hard evidence and there was little the UCAF would approve if she started things here before the operation against the tau even began, it might ruin her chances greatly.

"We cannot move until full confirmation of the eldar maids and of Lady Kara from other sources, for now we wait, I don't have any permission from HIGHCOM here or that of ONI to enact any rules of inquiry." She replied tersely.

Alex interjected. "What about my visual reference, it could be possible that she is chaos, I can't forget a face like that."

"Yes but you could get things wrong, look even if we were to go to a neural imager, the problem is that it is only under the use for ONI operatives in the field. And on top of that, there are many possible similarities in this universe and not in this universe; I'd end up in more trouble than both of you because I'd lose my status if we blindly rush in." She ended.

A few feet away, Kara knew she had pushed her luck as far as it would go, and she had no doubt that Lady Iona would suspect that she had an ulterior motive for bugging her. But as things continued through the night, Kara would step only closer to death. And Iona Firenze would dance with the devil.

XXXXX

(This was in 2009 when I was going to write a FFXI story with an OC character given to me by a friend, but it was scrapped because I had little interest in the world that it was based on and it was too much effort to play the game, to which I did not own at the time.)

Also to all my readers, there is going to be an increase in species I needed to add, but had no idea how to in late 2009 when I began to write Age of Revelations and Freelancer. So here's one of those races that will be involved in the new timeline, they'll only have moderate effects, but will usually be there as side characters. Also name any race that you'd wish to include:

Name:

Bio:

Specs:

Pro:

Con:

(Send directly or by Review, don't be shy, I take great effort in making things work well, though with limited holiday time.)

Somewhere in the Serpent Segment

It was over 55.C in this unforgiving heat, and it was by far the most annoying thing to have happened to Kale. A surprise ambush at the drop zone over 30 light years out of the segment had left him stranded in slip-space with his black hawk class longsword observer damaged beyond repair, all that he could salvage was the transponder to which was left on auto and all his survival gear.

He had stumbled out of his ship only 4 hours ago in search of the oasis that was detected by his neural interface to his sensor arrays. He was only 2km from it and closing very slowly, his medium khaki armour dispersed heat and UV rays, and it was a very hot trip.

It was then that he noticed something nearby, a figure only 200m in the left hand view, he thought it was an illusion, but his eye piece said otherwise, the figure looked to be about 4m in length from its fetal position, he hurried off, not caring either way of who it might be, the heat is deadly out here.

It took nothing short of 5 minutes, he was still about 3 clicks from the oasis when he arrived, it was an even trade, he was heading a bit off course, but still near enough. He arrived half expecting to see an animal, but not this…

A half woman/snake or serpent lying in the sand half buried and exhausted from travelling, or mugged and dropped here by her attackers. If there wasn't the fact that he had been killing mostly non-humans then he probably would have helped, but seeing as he needed directions, and something to talk to in this barren landscape, he checked her pulse.

It was moderate, but the sun hadn't done anything to improve her condition. He removed a small anti-heat juice, it was a nifty little bit of ingenuity for survival outside of normal conditions. He helped her drink the juice and then injected her with a low stimulator, enough to get her awake.

It took five more minutes before she stirred, and then asked. (Please imagine emphasis on the S, I do not want to constantly rewrite this so prior warning.)  
>"Why am I still in this damned place? I thought I would at least wake in the nice haven of wanderers."<p>

He crouched next to her and said.  
>"Well maybe you're here because I need you to be."<p>

"Ah, wait, how are you speaking to me?" She asked.

"I've got a bit of technology that lets me understand other beings." He stated simply.

"Okay, hmm, you're not from here are you?"

"No, I'm from somewhere far away." He replied with the emphasis on far.

"Let me guess, not from our world."

"Yes, I'm…? Wait how do you know that?"

"I've heard stories from my customers in the trade that there were other worlds far beyond, and also there is no race that goes by your description stranger, so that must mean a few things." She replied with her forked tongue poking out near his face.

"Okay, well how about we better introduce each other, I'm Kale Codrescu." He said.

"I am Lady Iasa Mostressa of the clan of Lapel." She replied courteously.

"Well from all out pleasantries I think we should begin to depart, we need to leave for the nearest waterhole, which I scouted a few hundred meters just to our right."

He helped the large serpent woman, who managed to tangle herself around him, she smiled and said. "It's nice of you to show a woman courtesy, but I'm not like many women of the other races, thanks though." She hissed.

She searched in the sand and found her scaled ornamented clothes and bag, nothing much had been taken considering she was heading to a new life, but this male she found was a boon to many things, and she was going to enjoy the greater heavens, like her grandmother once said.

"Don't waste an ample opportunity when it comes, or you'll regret it."

She doubted she'd waste anything.

(Just an explanation for a new race to join, and also because I like naga (or lamia?) Well it's been great so I better get back to main line.)

XXXXX

UCAF Faraday

Jordan stepped clear of the pelican, his boots covered in mud and dirt and whatever filth he had to haul his sorry butt through for the last 2 months. He didn't know if being here was a blessing or a curse, just that he was heading to the front lines in another couple of days with support forces and that he would only receive a day or two for a break.

He huddled over to the nearest chamber for clearing and stepped in, he was cleaned and washed in moments and then redressed. He stepped out into a locker room otherwise known as, The Pits, where the marines were usually dealing with technical issues and armour maintenance.

He was greeted by the sights of more marines and fellow comrades out of the field; he bumped into Costa, an old friend.

"Hey man, where's the rest of Gamma Company?" He asked half tired.

"Back in B121, they're taking a nap for now, we lost half of 2 squads and I think Jovaca is out of commission from an over-wash of plasma. Lai said that he'd be back in about 3 weeks." He replied in exact same tone.

"So if guess that leaves only Omega and Delta, along with Eta and Lima. Damn, we're going down faster than Joey's cooking on a good day." Jordan said with some humor.

"So anyone know where we're going?" Costa questioned.

"Command say's back to base and then to the Indrestri system, lots of activity of another enemy force, this time Tau."

"Last I heard about the Tau were supposed to not have been so close to the colonies?"

"Yeah, well reports haven't exactly been accurate in the past few days from that region because of the rolling losses, so from what I'm guessing in, we're going in with a large strike force."

"What makes you think that the HIGHCOM would allow for that?"

"Because I heard that an inquisitor is to take control of the forces there, so if we're not going there then we wouldn't be linking with the 12th and 22nd fleets, or the new guys." Jordan replied staring out the viewport of the locker, he could see the open expanse as Costa replied.

"Hah, the Eureka Marauders, those guys haven't even finished their first years, how do they expect to fight?"

"Just pure luck, and also because they have lots of armor support, and aerial, they're just there to learn."

"Good luck on that." Costa joked.

Jordan looked back into space, the open view outside with plenty of stars, relief was only momentary as he remembered what had to come next.

XXXXX

"As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death." Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci

Carth took to his combat stance, he brought the massive armoured gun of his HMIS to bear upon the unsuspecting covenant ground troops, it would be a short and bloody battle, but one that he'd remember for a long time. He checked in for the other squads, all were in position; all they had to do was to fire on contacts.

Kyle was still nowhere in sight, but that didn't halt the HMIS pilot, he took aim at the nearest armoured wraith. His scopes locked on to one unit, and he primed the HEAT launcher, the short ranged shell would accelerate in the launcher and fire at a pace of ¼ the speed of light, the penetrator round would blow by the shield and then proceed to detonating on the enemy suit.

The first revenant armour went down, and soon followed by the other which was crippled by an energy blast from the eldar star cannon. The marines then used their M180 HEATs to barrage the enemy forward positions sending grunts flying in their own blood.

"My spleen, where did it go?" One grunt yelled as it flew in the air.

"Okay, all squads are engaged, wraiths are on our position in about 30 seconds." Squad 3 reported.

Tae was engaged with squad 2 and 4 taking the left flank of the enemy, and pushing past the jackal phalanx formation. They managed to get the jump on the commanders and the full force as they began to rain in grenades of assortment, Tae just hoped that Kyle would get back with better support.

Carth pushed the Trojan Assault suit into overdrive as he began to make his way across the enemy position, he was taking significant fire as he made the attack, but his shields were holding. He could see all that the covenant was throwing back were plasma launchers and needler weapons.

"Commander, can you see their Wraiths? I can't get a visual lock." He stated.

Tae replied.  
>"They're about 200 meters to your right, look for a covenant fuel rod launcher, and that's your marker."<p>

Carth acknowledged. "I have the marker sir, proceeding to engage."

The HMIS began to tear into the right flank, closing the distance between the rear heavy armour and the infantry, but as he rounded the debris, he only glimpsed a sharp beam of light.

"Pulse- ARGH…" He screamed as the intense light slammed into the armour.

Tae watched in horror as the HMIS was blasted away in an intense explosion of plasma; Carth's suit was flung back at tremendous speeds and slammed into the wall behind. Then Tae realised what he had encountered, the beam weapon was a heavy lance cannon.

And then a Revenant Guard unit appeared, its cloak undamaged from the earlier assault, it had hidden itself in the rear when the attack began. The pilot was smart; it knew to hide while the others were taking a reprieve.

"All fire teams concentrate LGML-M1550s on that Guard Armour; don't let it get into cover!"

The fire teams with rockets began to strike with as much precision and munitions as possible, missiles and heavy M14HMGs began to chatter away and pummel the armoured suit. But only the HEATs seemed to bring the shields down, the other weapons only chipped away at the armour.

By the time Tae ordered another move, the suit had already vanished behind cover and gone about.  
>"All teams look out for that suit, it'll be moving in again." He warned.<p>

It was then that squad 4 was in panic, Tae watched as they tried to avoid the incoming attack from the Revenant Armour, it punched a line into them and drew an energy dagger, it sliced into the squad, sending three troopers down and knocking the others away.

It then fired out its plasma launchers and fired on squad 3-2, the fire licked at the feet of the troopers as they panicked, the eldar fired their heavy weapons without much success. The star cannons only glancing off the heavy shoulder shields, the suit fired on the team with wrist blasters.

"Someone better get a mag blast on that or were all screwed." He yelled.

That was when they heard the response.  
>"Already on it."<p>

The suit was about to proceed onto dispatching the last marines, when there was a loud crack, the head of the armoured suit attempted to see where the sound came from, but only received a face full of HE-AP rounds.

Then a large APC with Gauss Cannons and M50cal machine guns arrived, Tae could see the old fine print of the UCAF armoured 4th, an old Cougar class APC with support guns. The M68 Dual Gauss Cannons repeated fire once more, this time punching fist sized holes into the torso.

Kyle stepped out of a hatch holding a portable Gauss cannon variant and began to fire on the suit; the rounds finished the unit off as it dropped to the ground with smoking holes. He smiled with fury and glee at the fallen enemy, but still remained a bit grim, he was a few moments to late.

Tae and the other squads had no problem mopping the remainder of the enemy force up, soon they gathered their dead at the rear of the Cougar as it parked itself near the entrance to the chambers, only Farseer Zadera headed on. Vara and the aspect warriors were left to tend to the dead, though the dead to tend were only the young marines and Carth, who had not survived the incoming attack.

The HMIS was only a few feet away, and the remains of Carth sat at their feet, medical officer Dura Cole went to pick the memory tags of all the marines and cautious in removing the neural lace of the fallen pilot.

The eldar watched in interest as the final rights were given, and their bodies burned by the inferno grenades that remained. Vara asked Dura.

"What are those slips of metal you carry; I can sense something from them."

Dura sighed as he twiddled the small card in his hands.  
>"Neural mimetic cards, they take the memory portions and emotions into engrams and save them into these cards, all UCAF marines have them, as many are used to save whatever happiness remains, they're essentially our essence or souls, as you might consider them. We have very short life spans, so these cards simply act as a means to provide combat assistance in the future or self-closure. Hence the reason for our short lives, we don't care if we die, most of us lost many things, and the only means of seeing our loved ones who passed, is to die." He smiled at Carth.<p>

"That sounds much like our soul stones, however not as technological."

"Yeah, I've heard that from a bone signer at one point who commented on the validity of neural cards compared to the eldar souls stones our lives are a bit more livid in every sense of the word." He replied.

"Ah, do you believe in the afterlife?"

"You mean something like yours or the idea of the holy god of Terra?"

XXXXX

Sparta Class Cruiser- Lucius Maxim

Hiren Mirok watched from the CIC of the Cruiser as the 6th fleets arrived in system, the eldar craftworld was about 200,000km off to the left of his view port, and the covenant fleets only on his right. He arrived as soon as all UCAF ships were ordered into the system.

Hiren was a veteran from the beginning, serving the lines at the front during the start of the war and living from the destruction of his people of Nu Laos. He had seen much death, as had his grandfather and family before; they were a family of soldiers, him being the 3rd generation of great naval officers.

He watched as the Lucius began its run into the enemy forward lines, as were all Sparta Class ships the Lucius was made for a head to head and ship to ship confrontation, close range and heavy assaults were what made this ship perfect.

His brown hair faded with dirty silver and his once prominent green eyes now a tinge of dulled yellow, it was much like his race to adapt to change, but this rapid alteration from living on a heavy UV world had taken more than enough of a toll on his figure.

The ship's AI appeared, a woman dressed in a long wavering dress of traditional clothes sat on a misty cloud beneath her, her long locks of orange hair smoothed her form as though she was a goddess, Persephone watched and analysed.

"I count another 12 ships enter and 23 exit the system, the 9th and 12th have begun to mop up on the left, though the right appears to still be deadlocked. Shall we begin our assault or should we wait for them to disperse somewhat?" She asked.

He replied in a deep enough tone.  
>"Engage, the Artemis and the Ulysses are to bring up the rear. Tell Dona to flank once we've used the AERs, we'll have the advantage from there."<p>

"Yes sir, beginning forwards momentum and attack, charging MACs at 88 percent and beginning tidal barrage pattern theta."

The Lucius began to fire in waves, short ranged missiles of HEATs and Jericho interceptors the missiles began to pepper the incoming ships, it was then that the enemy began to retaliate; pulse and beam fire reached the Lucius. Persephone took evasive action and dodged the majority of the attacks; those that impacted were deflected by the shields and poly-phase reactive armour which absorbed a large amount of impacts.

"MACs firing now." Persephone stated.

The new Heavy MACs fired a range of Fury ASAPRs:

179875474.8 60% speed of light- so that would mean the increase of the weight of a 750kg ASAPRs with improved subspace projection would equal a-

- I don't know. (I just copied the rest from some other guy.)

- over 78 million times as powerful as Hiroshima

- over 31 est. thousand times as powerful than Tsar Bomb, which is (to date 100 megatons) the most powerful nuke ever built.  
>(Anyone can figure this out I'll be F*** amazed. What I just put up is just a rough guess, seeing as the thing is much more powerful, seriously guys the UCAF is meant to be vastly more dangerous than the UNSC. Exception that the Imperium is still overkill with a brutal murdering on the term overkill.)<p>

The round punched the energy from bow to stern, it became a clear cut, and soon the ship detonated in a violent explosion, the enemy no doubt began to realise their predicament and began to scatter their ships.

Persephone gave the orders for the Artemis and the others to begin flanking of the enemy ship, the large Phoenix class Assault Carriers began to pummel their way through as AERs ionised the region and dispersed the possible impacts of energy pulses.

The Artemis was a new generation Assault carrier with over 3.5 kilometres of space and 15,000 personnel with 2 MACs and over 30 Rail Batteries and 2 dozen missile pods over the length with countless defences. The ship was a living statement to assault.

Its dual MACs began to cleave an entry way through the covenant and demolish anything larger than a lifeboat; the ship was a sight for those who had almost lost hope of victory for the UCAF in this war.

Captain Dona who commanded the vessel began to take the ship to clear the remainder of any crafts, and regroup with the Lucius, Hiren watched in pride as the covenant fell back from the battle, the UCAF would stand to fight on, and he'd lead them.

"Persephone call Admiral Volkov we're done here, we're to re-join the fleet in orbit."

XXXXX

(This is for those who like a bit of romance, which I do need to increase in characters, BTW remember that I do take characters for use later, and I do get character use permission from artists.)

Here's a short break…

Elliria Vashti'la or Elly as Isaac called her, sat upon her usual place in the café, the busy streets of Trave Montel were loud with usual life, and Isaac was late again. The boy, as she called him always had a thing about trying to find her; he was always caught up trying to get things done.

Then again she wasn't exactly free from the fact that she had feelings for him, or the fact that she was an Exodite, she never even saw her mother after that debacle with Isaac over 2 years ago, now as a maiden living in the city of humans she found it so unique.

Other Exodites suggested going to this place from the start, which she initially ignored and travelled aimlessly for months, until a transport in bound for Montel stated a free ride. She couldn't help put it off and she didn't regret her decision, she arrived here with Isaac who had been waiting for her.

She never figured out the young adept's great interest in her, he had an engineering career and a life as a single for the past 19 years of his life, when she first met him was on Regis, where he was stationed with constructing new homes for the eldar and explaining boundaries.

He was kind and noble at heart and she liked so many things about him, and yet her mother, proud of being clear of conscious constantly hounded her over not pursuing the male. She ignored her mother's warnings and soon she ended up in a relationship, to which he started.

Elly was persistent, but Isaac was nurturing, and thus their relationship stayed strong, though the defining variants of their interests. Isaac wanted nothing more than to love her, while she wanted nothing less. But they kept their activities simply friendly, as close to the term friend as possible.

He staggered in through from the café front door, his beret of red and black glowing behind him like dusk in the evening. He was smiling as he sat down opposite to her, and he said.

"Sorry I took so long, I thought I might go looking for that special gift I promised you." He started.

"Oh, what gift was that?" She asked.

He revealed the small ring; it had an Aethium core and a full studding of platinum and poly-phasic bio crystals, which were used as energy storage and neural engram for memory storage.

"I thought of something from the Morning Glory, a small shop I knew of that had some of the best jewellery in the system, it's called a Memory Key." He stated with a smile.

She observed the ring, she could tell it was a neural interface type of object, meant for helping those remember things on a daily basis or annually. She'd never forget and never lose those kinds of wonderful memories; she'd keep them there within her ring.

"I don't know what to say." She replied.

"How about we go to Luxemburg States in inter system Eureka to see Avail Lagrange in concert?"

He smiled as she and he kissed.  
>"I'd love to."<p>

(Nothing explicit, that's the reason we have Slaanesh running about in almost every direction if you haven't noticed.)

XXXXX

Kher-Ys

The battle finished with the 4th and the 8th fleets support and the UCAF Reverent Cause arriving to help tow the craftworld into slip-space and heading back to the colony of Psi Chiquita, where the UCAF would install a massive slip-space drive to help move the ship away from danger.

The Helldivers and Marauders were taken into account for, of the 300,000 engaged in the total battle, it was calculated that only 89,000 returned alive. The covenant suffered maximum casualties of the 2.4 million that they had sent to engage.

Most of the 9th and 3rd fleets had suffered majority losses and required to reform a new force in the coming months, but troop disposition was high and exhaustion had taken a significant toll upon the surviving fleets.

Major Kyle was promoted as of 2531 August 3rd to Colonel, he was in charge of the new 41st regiments of the marauders, and the UCAF Strike force Gamma. He and 21 other COs were to be commanded, 7 of which posthumously to those who had fallen in combat.

The eldar additional forces boosted the troop morale however there was still the underlying point of dealing with a major faction, to which the eldar now subsequently became, with a population of around 2.4 billion there was still uncertainty in the eyes of the colonies to what action was to be taken.

The imperium then began to reinforce their borders along the Talden system entry, and the rise of militarisation of their forces in the western fronts.

The eldar reported their findings of arrival and of events, however there had been no reports of the entity known as Heartslayer, who vanished during the assault it is suggested that he'd never take the UCAF troops form due to difficulties in escaping unnoticed.

And that had led to the conclusion that the demon entity had become a physical manifestation of one of the covenant officers, though it is difficult to ascertain who he maybe, the covenant is now infiltrated by a usurper.

XXXXX

(Heads up guys, this is debauchery of the eldar and the idea of a clean covenant, so do not complain if you read this part, ignore if you do not wish to read of adult themes, I warn ahead of time for concern of younger readers, and such. Also Deviant Art almost banned me from writing this in at one point, so please do not read unless absolutely sure, I do warn in other chapters as well from now on.)

(Oh and also if anyone has any ideas for new enemies and races remember to post in reviews and PM me.)

Enduring Faith (Thirst of Lust)

Ship Master Hore Motomoree stared at the purple hull of his ship's CIC, his face was difficult to adjust seeing as he only received this new body about 3 days ago, and the ship was on an inbound trajectory with the Main Capital Eternal Reverence.

The planetoid was supposedly where the prophets wished to speak with Grand Fleet Master Korell Tomonoree of the impending disaster that had occurred at the site of the mysterious ship, and what the forces now had to compensate for.

Hore' did not care for the lustre of glory or honour, just the lustre of pleasure and embellishment of himself, he and his new force of demon hunters were to gain favour with the prophets, seeing as this new race he was to introduce would surely gain favour.

But he was also to warn of the heretical humans and their pitiful alien allies, such as the eldar, the scummy race as they were for bowing to the humans will. He'd make sure to show them of such an easy to subdue race.

He lay back in his chair, and then remembered where he was, the eldar female he had next to him waited ever so patiently, and the sounds from the bridge itself was wonderful to him. Desecration of the covenant vessel's pristine floors and decks, the rich fluids of his enemies and of his chosen lathered the very grounds to which they now lived; he'd make the covenant a monument to its own corruption and send those alien fools into civil war.

He laughed and grunted as pulled his slave over, his new elite body grasped the sensitive flesh of his prey and he enjoyed brandishing his new member into the helpless. But he disliked this form, as it still restrained him from his true form, the bringer of so much pain and glorious pleasures.

But he made do, as did his followers, the flesh wielders went to work upon the still resistant elites, he knew that it was going to take time, so he reported engineering issues to the forces and said he'd arrive in another few days.

His mind left him as his body went into autonomous function, his mind went to others around him, the demonettes feasting on the flesh of the elite warriors, their minds were soon to break, and the easily manipulable grunts making their will almost like twigs.

The engineers were cold simple machines with some thought to personality; he made sure that his flesh menders continued to service them in their thrall of control. The jackals were easy to gain trust and lie to, he made sure that they'd get paid and they'd receive a full renewal of faith in the covenant if they followed him.

The brutes were by far the most annoying to deal with, thick as bricks and just as hard to smash like ceremite, they had the intelligence worse than that of an ork, and he'd seen some stupid things in his life time.

He made sure to have the elites kill or subjugate the rest, and make the menders deal with them as well. All that remained were the Megloko, who had just about the greatest of resistance of all beings, next to those bugs he found in the vents.

The worm like beings had taken most of the time to tame, he made sure to strip them of armour before ordering the eldar prisoners to be thrown in with them, he had been unsure, but it seemed as though the worms like the eldar… including their taste, as over 12 had gone missing.

But he assumed that their telepathic skills may still have been able to influence the other races, he made sure to have some of the ship under lockdown as the elites did their sweeps. He was so happy to hear of all these new followers, and so unhappy of so much resistance.

He had put down a dozen attempts on his life by the still unconverted elites and their troops, but he made them suffer and made each one even more loyal to him, as he broke their faith.

It was then he was pulled back to his body, when it began to spasm from the pleasure, his opaque eyes light up and he lifted the eldar down upon her back and ejaculated. She collapsed from the effort and he simply lay back and ordered her away, he didn't need something to be blocking his view of the ship's transition, another 2 days.

He grinned, the covenant were not to be prepared for what was to come, as it would shake their belief to its knees. He laughed as the sounds and smells of the pleasure increased, he'd live to enjoy bringing his judgement upon the mortal races.

XXXXX

Two weeks later…

Olisi Indestri was covered in smoke and ash, the air was almost unbearable as the burning hulks of tau ships littered the field, the troops were starving and the kroot ill or dead, Shadowstrike had never imagined that this devastation would come, it was her blind faith that damned them all.

The MVF looked at her with cold and uncaring eyes, the pilot betrayed by his mother, creator, who lied to him, and made him betray the alliance, she however bled on the ground and watched as her own creation turned its weapons from her and looked at her with pity.

"You lied, and I believed, you lied, and I had faith. I shall now exact my judgement…"

He pushed the M6 to her forehead and looked at her with his glowing dulled silver eyes.

XXXXX

Iona Fierenze watched from afar, her retinue had done everything here, the tau were no more, the UCAF had brought in the entire armada of the recuperating fleets and regiments and hammered the tau in utter fury.

The colony surface was now barren; the tau forces dead in their tracks, the days of heavy fighting wearing them down and slaughtering them. She watched with stoic expression, this was war, she knew it and so did the death spirit space marines.

"Chaplain Morchen, please secure the area we must search for the tau commander or better yet, their ethereal, once we've recovered them we're to rendezvous with the UCAF on the main ridge." She ordered.

"Very well Madam Inquisitor, all death spirits, brothers gather and search these low life scums from their pathetic holes, gather them if they are wounded, but kill if necessary, we are to move to the square once we've finished." He ordered amongst his brothers.

He moved off, his brothers acknowledging their objectives and proceeding to do their mission, it would be a long day, but a day of glorious victory for the human race, to root out the tau and bring them to justice.

XXXXX

(Morchen is property of Tyrantwatch of Deviant Art, and Lady Inquisitor Amalthea Firenze of Mako85.)

Yeah, so if there is anything you guys want to get done or seen in any of my stories including new ones, then contact me.

Oh and is Renamon a good character to throw into the mix? I don't know.

(I know that the ST guys are so going to hate me for this one.) This is a possible AU, though I have the 1st chapter ready I have no idea if I should publish. And also anyone knows any good or funny My Little Pony Crossovers?

AU1 Halo/Star Trek: Infinity and Beyond.

The Stardate is 55671.2 it has been years since the end of the Dominion War and the galaxy returns to some semblance of peace, but there is something to come from this new era of the galactic history. In the alpha quadrant and unknown ship arrives in through a massive subspace rift, and stops dead in space.

The federation sends the Enterprise and a fleet of ships to investigate the vessel and determine what the rift maybe. Although there is more, in DS9 a communication arrives from a long dead friend, Kira Nyers is stunned to be meeting with two old acquaintances.


	6. Chapter 6

CH6

XXXXX

Fated Beginnings… Fated Ends… Fated Dreams

XXXXX

(Warning, there is mature content, do not read this section if you do not want to)

Eternal Reverence

In the depths of space the massive covenant planetoid stood out, its half-moon structure stretching thousands of kilometres in length and breadth, the lines of light scoured its surface like that of the stars, but this was no ordinary planetoid.

The Eternal Reverence was a city, a massive floating city in space, with countless millions to billions living inside of it. To those of the covenant, this was true strength, the power to survive in the depths of space, and search for the great journey.

Thousands upon thousands of ships patrolled the red dwarf system it was in, the gaseous giants only ignited the darkness around it, as it so gracefully moved. In the eyes of Hore Motomoree, it was the place to begin his reign of destruction and perversion once more.

He moved away from the view screen of the ship and headed past his purple armoured zealots, their armoured had almost no difference as before, just 1 additional marking that seemed to pay them no heed. He walked through the halls of purple and multi-coloured shades of pink.

He enjoyed sights; it reminded him so much of the warp, the endless colours of light and energy and the fullest feeling of pleasure and power. He continued until he arrived at the docking bay of the Enduring faith, there he had ordered his best warriors armoured in new coloured combat skins and suits to be prepared.

He had also dispatched for his demon minions to be present, only those who looked at least aesthetically pleasing, they'd be the best bet to get the trust of the hierarchs to him, and also because he needed a comparison.

The phantom transport held his warriors and their prisoners and new allies inside, 8 demonettes and their chains hold down the eldar farseer in rags with her kin, all so worn and tired. He would be feasting on their flesh if it wasn't the fact that he had no psychic energy coming off of them as much, so he regaled to leave them be.

His armoured elite followers held their heads high, the ultras kept them looking sharp, all their armour was cleaned by the grunts and the slaves. He checked his armour again, this time making sure he looked as commanding as he did before his conversion.

All his energy swords in place and with his shields active, it only took moments to absorb the mind of the Sangheili warrior and turn him into his meat puppet. He now stepped in and waved to his pilot over the com link.

"Let us bring the news to the prophets of our great bounty, and let not the foolish leers of our opposition stop us from telling them the truth of the heretics and their new allies." He chimed.

The phantoms lifted off from their docking hold and moved into the empty void, they sped off to the massive planetoid along with the hundreds of others.

XXXXX

Voti'l Tol'moree watched as the phantoms arrived in the bay, he disembarked with his 4 commanders and the rest of the surviving fleet units from the western crusades. He was in less than a good mood, even worse as the whole crusade was grounded and the prophets and hierarchs ordered a full retreat from the lines.

Ship Mistress Lo'anae Mo'rellanee arrived on one phantom with her full command, she had been successful in supressing the continued assault of the humans in the south west crusade, even if it came at the cost of 3 ships, and she was to be commended of her efforts.

Voti'l resented her, but also admired her, she was a female and much of sangheili tradition would never allow such as her to join the conflict as an officer, but she had proven herself on countless occasions in the field since the beginning and she was granted the position of Grand Master Loka'aan Tol'moree his father who led the first massive crusade.

This was also a reason to be resentful, but also despising, he didn't like that his father knew and willingly let her come to term, even before him. And now he could only accept that she was better in the face of battle more than him.

He gritted his mandibles together and walked alongside her and her retinue, she greeted him with a guileless smile.  
>"Ah, Voti'l how has the crusade on the heretics in their system of Akemeris gone?"<p>

"Badly, you should know considering you were only 5 light years away." He replied bluntly.

"Well I heard the rumours, but I never imagined the demons came in such force, their warriors on the moons of Talren Opoxima were easier to deal with, even if somewhat costly." She replied as though talking of food.

"I must imagine, and I am curious as to why you never seem to engage the demons when they appear?" He replied with slitted eyes.

"Because I know when to attack, as father had taught me, always keep an open mind and open target, and then close the trap upon them." She jeered.

"Do not patronise me on my father's teaching Loka, he may have praised you, but I was still honoured to be his son." He retorted.

"My, my getting a little more than your ego aren't you?"

He remained silent and continued on, the retinue of warriors continued with him ahead, all knew of his anger, he had lost more than his brother to the humans, but also his honour and pride, the council would see to it that he is demoted if he couldn't continue with some victory.

He walked on, even more miserable of his own failings, how could he stop the demons from ripping his forces to pieces, or their new fleets from coming in and decimating them? He couldn't get a clear grasp on what had to be done; it was all just a mess of problems.

As he pondered, he saw the arrival of a deep purple phantom, which meant that someone was painting their ships differently, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but why would they change the colour of their standard?

He walked to see a mass of people sangheili and not sangheili, there were beings that could easily be mistaken as human for their skin and shape, but not their ears. Maybe there was a capture of a sub race of humans?

He didn't know, but this didn't sit right as there more beings disembarked, a strange group of beings wearing multi coloured dresses and had some armoured gauntlets and shaped arms. He couldn't tell but there was something not right about seeing them aboard the Reverence.

This was holy ground, not a mockery of a meeting with new races, if they wanted to meet with the noble hierarchs and the prophets, they'd meet outside. He watched closely as a ship master dropped out with his squad, they made sure all was prepared in a calm and orderly fashion.

The group then headed on in before Voti'l, but that didn't mean that it didn't attract as much attention, almost every onlooker took to watching closely, if this was a real issue then that fool would wait for the prophets to see him before presenting his finds.

XXXXX

Inside the chamber of the hierarchs, the sounds of angry debates and furious arguments on how the war is being conducted raged, people of both sides argued of what was to happen for the next 3 coming campaigns and the other side arguing over the sheer resource demands of supplying each.

Hore Motomoree walked down the chamber with his forces in tow with the gifts. He was granted acknowledgement by the prophet of Rendition.  
>"Ah Shipmaster what may have you brought to us that requires such attention?"<p>

"I bring you wondrous and yet concerning news, the humans have located another race and another faction of power to call upon, and I have located these beings for you, including some new allies." He pronounced.

"Is that what those pale skinned humans are? They don't look so different." Rendition questioned.

Hore then replied by pulling the slave up to face the prophet.  
>"If there is doubt I think you should inspect them a bit more closely, this one was hard enough to subdue, but she will not attack."<p>

The eldar was dragged along to the prophet, who looked questioningly whether or not this being was truly as the Shipmaster stated. He was joined by his fellow brethren, and there was no mistake as they saw the being kneel, that she was pale elegant even in rags, but had longer ears and a sharper face, her eyes were worn, but there was an ethereal base of life that Reverence and Amity could see.

"So what is this race that you have found?" Rendition asked as he put his hands on her face to observe closely.

"They call themselves eldar; I know little of their race only that they were in the system where the entire 9th crusade fleet was reported to have been utterly annihilated." He responded clearly.

"And yet you survived? How odd, but nonetheless this discovery has merit, you'll be spared of any repercussions for aiding in time of need, and of this find, though curious, how do you intend to fight these new beings?" Amity asked with deep cutting scrutiny.

"I'd suggest we try to approach them differently from the humans, these beings have far greater skill than the humans, but not equal in strength or numbers, should we break their will they are easily malleable to the will of the great journey." He explained.

"So you suggest bringing these entities that look so close to our enemies to our side?" Reverence asked.

"No holy one I merely suggest that they be put to better use." He expressed apologetically.

"There is no love lost shipmaster, these beings I do admit are curious, if we do as you suggest do you truly think we may be able to let them see the true light of the journey? Or will the turn out more like our enemies who oppose the belief?"

"They are beings of great sensitivity holy ones. Bringing them into the will of the covenant isn't going easy, but it shall be bountiful if we succeed, they are an achievement by challenge alone as they possess unique powers." He stated.

"Unique powers?" Amity questioned.

He didn't need to ask as the being's eyes seemed to glow slightly, there wasn't much energy but he could feel different. And that was when he realised that he and the others were lifted off their chairs, they initially thought it was just the malfunction of their equipment, but then there was the fact that everything was floating off the ground, including the hierarchs.

"This is enough Shipmaster; I think we don't need more of an example." Reverence stated.

The ex-farseer dropped the council chamber and simply sat there, the prophets were impressed, but they'd wish for more control. That was when Amity asked.

"What forces would you need to deal with these eldar?"

"I shall require a separate force to attack along the western lines great one, from there I shall incite their forces to draw the eldar in, and then we shall be victorious." He replied.

"Very well, a force of ships will be gathered to aid you in your endeavour; however we expect to see progress."

"What of my guests?" He asked.

"Who are they?" Reverence asked.

The demonettes stood out and bowed with their changed clothes of multi coloured and layered silk, they looked at them and introduced themselves.

"We are the slaaneshi." Lady Savara pronounced.

"Welcome to our covenant, why have you appealed to our cause?" Amity asked.

"We seek to call ourselves worthy in the eyes of the covenant and the great journey, we are skilled in many arts and in many forms of cultures far from the covenant, we simply wish to explore and understand more of your civilisation."

"You wish to join by expression of culture and art? We would have preferred a race capable in dealing with combat; however we would be ignorant of the fact that the huragok also depend upon us to provide." Amity stated.

"We can defend ourselves, however we do not possess much technology and our race has been at war with these eldar for many years, we know enough of their arts and their skills, we are made for battle with our hands."

She clicked her other claw arms.  
>"As you can see we don't possess many technological advances, but physical and biological traits."<p>

"Yes, interesting indeed, but what of your world and your race can we as the covenant be asked to simply supply a race without significant technologies into joining?" Reverence asked.

"Our world was long since destroyed and thus we wander, we were hoping that charity through our plight may have been more apathetic." She shrugged.

"That shall then require the decision of the entire council, which may take time for decision to be given; you shall have to remain here until a judgement can be made though." He explained.

"Then with your permission we shall remain on Eternal Reverence until your judgement."

The meeting with the hierarchs ended, and they departed from the chambers, the eldar slaves with their demon watchers kept their eyes open for Hore as he went off to gather his forces, and as he left he meet eye to eye with another officer. Voti'l looked as disgusted with these new beings, but he felt something terribly wrong.

XXXXX

2531

To Bob Dylan- one of the best artists I have ever heard.

(Yes paraphrased)

"Momma wiped the blood off my face, I just can't see her face anymore, and I feel like I'm knocking on heaven's door… Momma laid my guns into the ground, I can't fire them anymore." He looked to the skyline; Rey-0112 felt the ray of light hit his face.

He dropped down into a roll before landing on his feet, he could see that the ground was green and the earth was pristine, like his home, but he couldn't tell what world this was, why… why was his mother over on the grass so far away?

He walked over so carefully, his feet so different, his body so changed, he could finally reach for her, her face was pale, and so calm so beautiful and she looked at him with warm eyes.

"Son, wake up, it's time to put your guns away…"

She picked his M6 away from him, and laid them on the ground, and then she said.

"Come with me to heaven…"

He paused, the air was so clean and the light so pure, he couldn't tell why he was so sad though, his eyes welled with tears, and then he remembered.  
>"Momma, I can't, I'm not ready yet. I haven't knocked on heaven's door, because I'm so close to you, please, just let me leave, I want to die before then."<p>

He slowly pulled away from her, and then saw her smile once more, and then he remembered this place, his home, his world.

"Let me guide you son, let heaven wait for you, let me wait for you, when you want to come home." She said.

He nodded and then he felt himself hit the ground, the warm ground as it was covered itself with his blood, and he could remember what it was like to be born and then die.

XXXXX

His guns blazed, the M150 Vulcan Carbine fired, the rounds tearing into the closest tau fire warrior, then his attack was countered by the other squads, he could see that he was surrounded, this place. This was his home, this was the place mother had once told him about, the ground no longer pristine or green.

He could see the hill she had laid upon with the commander of the tau, she was ordering them to stop him, she wanted him to be subdued, and she wanted him alive. But he could hear himself and feel the truth, the lies she filled his head with.

He broke away as he realised the truth, he wanted nothing, he wanted to live, and she wanted to control him…

"I'm knocking on heaven's door… momma wait for me when I find my soul." He praised.

His suit charged forwards, knocking the troops out of the way, he fired the leg joint missiles the M140 missiles detonated in a cascade of fire, covering the earth in halo of fire; the fire warriors were blown to shreds. He rushed forwards, but the XXII-22 jumped away with jetpacks and fired on him with only the burst guns.

It only slowed him enough that he jumped short of a few feet away; he then regained footing, and then brought the ventral thrusters active, the suit jolted at 140km/h and collided with the tau armour, they were both thrown to the ground.

The impact sent shockwaves through his body, rupturing two veins, he knew then that the suit wasn't all repaired; he could tell a number of vital systems weren't ready. But he didn't care, he smacked the suit in the face, and again, he was then thrown back by the knee of the stealth battlesuit.

The commander yelled out. "Stop Rey, I'm your mother, I don't want to hurt you."

He snarled. "I don't care, I don't want you to not hurt me, I want to kill you, you took my mother away from me, you took her soul from me, her gift I'll kill you."

The suit rammed into her again, this time the MKIV Astral Son mauled the battlesuit with its twin knives, it rammed into each joint of the suit, Averessa could hear the anguished cries of the child, and he had finally lost it. She should have known that Rey wouldn't respond kindly to the re-education of the greater good, he was now uncontrollable, wild, and in pain.

"Son, please stop." She tried with the re-integrated memories.

"You don't call me your child; you've done nothing but try to turn me from mother, like so many of you before." He screamed.

He was knocked away as the other crisis teams arrived, they grappled the other suit and pulled it away, but the 5m suit put up more than a fight, damaging the optics of one suit and hacking the legs off another, the suits backed away, drawing weapons they fired.

The fusion bubble shields activated, the energy transferred away from harming him, he pushed forwards, his suit colliding with the others at speeds even they couldn't react to, then stabbing the suit with the knives.

He dropped the suit and went after the next, bringing his leg, he kicked the torso and knocked it to the ground, his foot then to the arms and then a HPAA5 pistol to the chest, the suit fell silent. But the battle was far from over, Rey was barraged by oncoming fire from a group of stealth suits, he jumped away as fusion blasters tore at the earth.

He brought the M150 Vulcan Carbine and began to fire on them, the rounds neatly mashing the armour and flesh, and then he fired the secondary round, the HEAI detonated, the earth was then flash fried by the sheer heat and explosive force.

He turned his attention to any enemy detail, bringing his guns to bear upon them, he fired in an endless stream, the bullets penetrated armour and shields and whatever remained in their way, the suit reacted so violently to the surrounding opposition.

He couldn't tell if his mind was still himself, or if this was someone else, but Rey couldn't care, he had been laid to, his soul stripped of the right to go to heaven, he'd avenge his mother, his life, his soul.

"Die, Die, Die! Just die, I don't want to know you, I just want you dead." He screamed.

The bullets flew and so did the casing along with the dozens of entities in the area, they all were brought to their knees, on hands and feet, or in pieces unrecognisable. All that could be heard was him and his screaming and the explosive rounds.

Then he was struck from the heavens, a sharp beam of light, and then the ground around him exploded, his suit was thrown to the ground, and he heard another few of his bones snap from the force, he could feel blood welling in his body, a number of damaged organs.

It was getting dark, darker than he could see, so he shut his eyes, and then moved up, his body ached, and so did the suit, they were one and they were together and they'd die together, as they always should have.

He looked up once more, there he saw the outline of a manta, the large assault transport for the tau, and he gritted his teeth and screamed as his suit jumped into the air, its agile form dodging the incoming fire and stream of missiles.

He landed on the front of the ship, his M155 Magellan fired into the armour, in waves the HEAT rounds impacted into the ship's armour until it buckled, he gritted as he continued and broke the armour, and the rounds tore into the front nose and sent the ship crashing.

He watched as the ship's nose and mid-section detonated in a heavenly storm of fire and metals, his eyes blind as they were saw through the optics of the Astral. He watched with almost blinding fury, and then the ship crashed to the earth, he felt the impact shatter his left arm and foot, and went into a roll.

The ship crashed along with him, and he stood in the inferno, only a few feet from where the alien who called him her child lay, her suit barely functioning as it was. He slowly walked over, his eyes slowly recovering and his blood slowly draining.

He pointed the M150 at the suit's open torso, and said.

"You liar, you should have known about momma, and she said never to talk to strangers, including you. You're pathetic, the thing that makes mother cry, because you lie, you cheat and you take her away from me, so you and all of your kind will die. So momma can lay my guns down, so I can knock on heaven's door, so I can die." He cried.

"But do you want this? DO you want to kill me? She'd never say that you must, she said she'd love you whether or not you did, just ignore the past child, and let yourself decide, you…" She breathed.

"I don't know…" He said.

The rain poured down from the shadow the smoke that had now become the very clouds, the skies mixed with an aura of light and darkness, his eyes opened and they could see her, everywhere, she smiled and she cried and she loved, she looked at him and said.

"Please wait until you can come with me to heaven's door…"

He stopped, the world paused, he could hear his breathing, he could hear her calling, why… why this happening why is… is this so…

He screamed. "Why?" Tears of his eyes dropped clear and in blood.

XXXXX

Iona Amalthea Firenze watched from above, her eyes not turning from the sight of the gore and violence, but also the deeper truth, the truth, and she watched as Rey screamed, Alex came to her side and asked.

"Shall he truly find the peace he wishes?" He asked.

"Yes, but in his darkest days, let's leave him, he needs to be alone." She replied with a sombre gesture.

The tau had been beaten back, by the combined efforts of the imperium and the UCAF, even though it took a whole month to break them, the planet was now theirs, the infantry forces cleared the enemy forces with ease.

Slip-space the UCAF came from slipstream space and continued to counter the invasion of the tau, thousands of troops were clearing the field to engage in the battle. The battlefield was covered in ash and fire, smoke rose in clouds that now covered the skies, with them the remains of troops of both sides would be remembered in the coming rains from now till the end.

Morchen of the Death Spirits chapter waited for her anxiously, he knew of what to expect in this war, but when he saw the pilot of the MKIV go insane he believed that nothing could shock him anymore. This wasn't gory or depraving or disgusting, this was truly sombre, he could see nothing but absolute despair from his one living soul, and that sent the UCAF marines to watch and wait.

He stood and asked. "Shall he recover Lady Inquisitor?"

She replied in a quiet tone. "He shall, but we must attend to our other duties, how does the battle fare?"

"The tau, they have fallen back to their lines all along the last bastion, Commander Jace has expressed some concern in dealing with the defences, but an alternate plan has been devised by a lieutenant Jordan Hartman, who has found a means of defeating the last stronghold." He stated.

"Very well, we shall depart once he has planned to break the defences, please contact the UCAF medical team involved with dealing with these Rey units." She said with some sense of sickness.

This wasn't like anything she felt, her mind was open to that child's psychic scream; it was louder and far greater in volume than anything she had ever heard. She simply felt the despair lacing the air with confusion and pain, he was in true pain.

She looked to the map, and tried to shut out the screams.

XXXXX

2533

On the colony of Souza Phi, Thom Batel fired his MA5C at the approaching shadows, the attack had been so sudden, they had come in swarms like the locusts of Tanden Fields, but these were worse than locusts, they were a plague sent from the abyss of the void itself.

The shadows avoided the precise strikes of his MA5, that didn't stop him from blowing apart another one with his grenade launcher. His victory was short as he ducked to avoid the splinter rounds, they blew into the walls and embedded themselves into the wall so deeply, and he could feel the air stiffen with stale poison.

His eyes opened to glimpse the approaching shadow; he brought his M6 out of his left holster and fired 3 successive rounds, each hitting its presented target, the figure dropped to the ground in a pool of its own blood.

He turned to fire upon anything else, but he was struck by a bayonet into his armour, he realised that the blade was deflected thanks to the improved joint plating; he grabbed the sharp edge and twisted it. The bayonet snapped in two, he grabbed the being by the chest plate and kicked it in the crotch.

It dropped to the ground, and he pulled his MA5 and fired into its face. It carcass left the ground and fell into a messy pile next to the other bodies. Thom reloaded his MA5 and began to hunt for the other shadows, but all in response was a wave of splinter rounds.

He ducked and moved from cover as a small ball of black crystal landed in his cover, it detonated and the area was covered in black spikes, he'd rather avoid such things. He moved down the street, covering his back as he rushed to the end of an alleyway.

He was then stopped by an elegant figure; she held very little clothing and wore what would be said to be a mesh shirt and a loose set of lingerie. He set to fire upon the sharp figure, but was surprised that she moved fast, he dodged her first strike by scant millimetres. He then opened fire again on full automatic; the rounds ricocheted off the surrounding alley.

He opened his eyes to see that the figure was only struck one in the shoulder; she gritted her teeth in fury and struck again, this time as he lay on the ground. He reflexed his back and rolled away as the strike was made, cutting a deep line in the ceremite ground.

He fired again, but ran empty, instead he fired his combat grenade, the round detonated as the being made another run, the alley was lit by the HE. Then it was quiet, Thom realised that it was quiet, no sound no ringing of the explosion, he could hear that there was nothing.

And that was when he realised he was hearing anything because of the muffled ear guards and of his blood slowly pool at his body's edge, a shrapnel piece had impaled his lower abdomen, he couldn't breathe.

He could see Angela, waiting for him at home, their child so close on the way; he could only draw his eyes to the small picture of them waiting, his bracelet glowing, and then lighting his face. He passed into unconsciousness and let death slowly consume him.

But the figure was still moving, she approached him and saw such a sight, she picked the small bracelet up, and then she looked at him, she pitied the young man. She'd have to take such a prize from his lover, and turn him into a husk of what he was, but this was her life. As a Succubus, she was expected to do such things and she never questioned it.

XXXXX

2532

Somewhere else in the galaxy…

"Oi Boss, where's all dem oomies go?" Oozja Boi asked.

"How's do I know ya git? U see anything that lookz like one?" Boss Loud Gunna Ed Ripper asked.

"No, but that'z it, where'z they all go?" Schoolar boy asked.

"Hmm, maybe dey went there?" Oozja pointed to the large fence with a sign.

[Do Not Approach- MINES]

Schoolar stated. "No way would'z they go there boss."

"Why?"

"Mines, you know BOOM?"

"Oh, we'llz then where would they go?"

Schoolar replied. "How about the big thing over there?"

"U mean dat tall tower dat said'z were near 'Rok County'?"

"Yeah."

The boss shrugged and then said.

"Okay Boyz let's WAAALLLLLKKKK."

And so they walked…

XXXXX

2532

Fear the Xeno they said, look out for heresy they said, check under your bed for necrons they said, why the fuck do the imperial guard give them such useless bed time stories that are used to scare little kids? Because the truth is that they happen…

"Hold fast!" Commissar Holt yelled.

The hundreds of UCAF marines and imperial guard fought in the trenches as waves of damned xeno sprouted from the ground. Lieutenant Carmine Vaughn never imagined that something's that the imperium tends to believe happen. His AR kicked back with plenty of rounds as the munitions tore apart the hulk of the walking beasts, but that wasn't enough to stop the rest from rushing the defences.

As Carmine jumped to another wall he pulled out his AA12s and fired at point blank into the torso of a charging 7ft figure with heavy chitin armour, the suit blew to pieces and the beast's organs flew out, Carmine's face and BDU were then covered in the gory mess of his enemy.

He didn't have long to wait as things called the Niverati began to swarm the defences. He watched as a Neerox appeared; its black beak pecking at the defenders like a chook, only difference was that it sliced you to pieces as it does so. He open fired on the being with full auto, in hopes to draw it away from the others.

It looked to him and began to chew its way over to him, he ducked and rolled as he set a grenade on the ground, and the timer went off as he cleared away, but fell into a pit. His head smacked something hard as he lost consciousness.

XXXXX

Name: Niverati (Rogue Psyker owns this.)

Bio: Insectoid, hive based creatures.

There are 5 known forms of Niverati.

Warriors (marine given moniker "grubs"): These make up the primary soldiers of the Niverati army. They are the most numerous form as well. They have been known to revert to cannibalism and extreme acts of violence in the heat of battle. They have the shape of a human, but 3 fingers on each hand, a mouth made up of 6 insectoid pincer/mandibles on top and a toothed jaw on the bottom, green exoskeleton resembling and doubling as armor, they all stand at exactly 6ft 7 (none have ever been found to go below or above this height for unkown reasons). Their primary weapons are arm cannons that shoot biological goo with acidic properties, and large swords (5ft long) that are barbed and somewhat organic. The latter are used as one-hand weapons, speaking volumes of their strength.

Guardians (marine given moniker "crabs"): Unlike they're smaller cousins, these creatures never leave the confines of Niverati ships or Niverati held planets. They serve as guards and have never been recorded to retreat from their territory. They are also one of the stranger forms. They have a very bulky and heavily armoured exoskeleton. Small arms fire has proven to only aggravate it and chink its armour. Its legs are 4 outstretching crab-like limbs, earning the moniker of crab. On its right arm is a biologically grown arm cannon that fires thousands of micro-projectiles a minute. Such projectiles are very effective, since their size makes them impossible to remove if it penetrates organic tissue. Its left arm is giant 3 fingered hand with sharpened claws. With a height averaging to 8ft 9in they are viewed as mobile machine gun nests.

Strain lords (marine given moniker "reavers"): These creatures, upon first glance appear to be black ornate warriors. However the difference is much greater. They act as commanders and living radios for the Niverati species. They all carry blackened versions of the swords used by the warriors. They've been recorded to do incredible feats in combat. Some of said feats is dodging a bullet or even smacking it out the air with their blades. With such unnatural speed, no individual human can hope to defeat one of these creatures. They are, as well, the most vicious forms of Niverati. Occasionally a group of Strain lords would actually go behind enemy lines and cause chaos as the primary force advances drives through the already battered resistance. The most identifying feature they have is the largely visible head dress, which is actually biologically connected to their brain. It resembles 2 horns with a reddish film connecting the 2. They have 4 red glowing eyes, 2 on each side, to ensure the only blind spots they have is directly behind or below them. They are also much bulkier and violent in comparison to warriors.

Neerox (marine given moniker "Zilla"): These are seen more or less as the biological tanks of the Niverati. They have armaments ranging from oversized versions of the guardian's micro-weapons, to massive cannons capable of hammering into battle ships. It's because of this; they've been employed as AA guns, battle tanks, mortars, and even battering rams. They appear as large insectoids who balance on their legs and fist but can easily stand on 2 legs. The entire lower half of the head is a mostly made up of a large tooth filled-jaw. The upper is a pair of blood red eye slits and 2 oval shaped holes for a nose. However, large helmets with built in shield generators are placed upon them to ensure that a single well-placed round doesn't kill the beast. It stands at 27ft in height and 12 in width, from shoulder to shoulder.(If it's hard to picture, imagine a huge krootox with a large face covering metal helmet, and a gun on its back)

Quill (marine given moniker "worms"): Unlike the other types, this particular type of creature has no use for combat. Its sole purpose is 2 things. 1) Gather any metallic material it can find to biologically produce weapons. 2) Gather any organic material it can find to reproduce warriors. It has the appearence of a green centipede but without mandibles or antennas. Instead it has a gaping mouth, filled with whirling teeth, made for eating anything. There are no visible eyes so it is assumed they sense for movement in the ground to find resources and possible attackers. Its length is 170ft from head to tail yet only 20ft in thickness, giving the impression of a living train. Due to the fact it can only make warriors and weapons has somewhat disturbed scientist however. If these creatures can only produce basic warriors, then what produces the other 3 forms?

Pro: Due to the nature of their lives, they can rise to threateningly high numbers if given time to fortify. If a single Quill burrows itself under ground and is left uncheck for several months, a full scale invasion force can appear from under their enemies' feet, while their oddly half biological have mechanical fleet of warships attack from above. Such tactics force their enemies to have to fight a 2 front war from above and below. Obviously, something would have to be directing this behaviour but no one has ever gotten deep enough behind Niverati lines to know.

Con: For all their numbers, they lack speed. The invasion of a single planet would be months in the making. Their strategy requires for the enemy to be unaware of an army building up under their feet. (My own revision of cons) The Niverati have known no proper forms of communication, however that maybe purely due to their natural make up, or because their cohesive mind decides not to, the UCAF only recently encountering this race has discovered that they are capable with vocal cords. But later evidence of these beings using their voices to speak is rare. There is two other hypotheses' on the Niverati, the imperial guard believe them to be a sub form of their universe's Tyranids. However the UCAF had somewhat disproven that the tyranids were exactly like the Nirevati, as over 200 mysterious rumours from Jacob Andes, a UCAF commando, who survived a planetary invasion said.

"There are more than the simple warriors, I encountered a bio species capable of thought and logic, but they are secluded and shy, their warriors are those who follow separate leaders, one by the known Iscanus the Eternal, a male warlord who leads the attacks. There are other beings within the Nirevati, but they only show themselves on their own worlds, it is supposedly about 20 light years deep in the western frontier, only 2 dozen worlds under their control and a population uncountable. If anything the Nirevati only consumes to improve knowledge, they seek knowledge and absorb it, but technology is something they have yet to grasp, there are too few highly intellectual races that they ever encountered. But in my opinion they're as passive as the Pyre's of Viscos."

(BTW Viscos Strider is a frozen ball of ice and land mass with temperatures of less than 500.c, the planet only sustains life in summer, and in the underground volcanic vents. It is also said that the pyries entities are symbiotic to the planet and live to feed off of the water vapours and some vegetation's and animals, the Pyre's people only encounter these mystery aliens rarely, but some eye witness encounters suggest that they are humanoid with two eyes or eye slits and are bio reactive to other beings. The latter of known records also state that they are a mostly female race of sorts or just mono gender. But that might be old miner tales of those who work the volcanic vents.)

Thank you Rogue Psyker. (I do hope I didn't wreck much, and also the tyranids are here in this universe as well, they'll come in later with a bang…. And also the flood and the undead plagues and then the beginning of the reapers, so please enough with the super dense killing machines please, but it is great to see a good suggestion.)

If anyone would like to send in their suggestion for a new race please send by:

Name:

History:

Specs:

Pros:

Cons:

Figures of Importance: (not needed, but would like to know)

XXXXX

In the light of the arrival of the Kher-Ys Craftworld the UCAF decided to move the massive world ship into the same system as the shared human/eldar worlds of the Regis Proxy, there the UCAF began to help repair the craftworld and tend to some rather delicate matters.

As the people of Kher-Ys were brought up to speed with their situation, they realised that there was almost no means of getting back to their own universe, and thus was simply having to accept just remaining in the UCAF space.

Then as time went by, the judgement of one maiden was left upon the eldar, who saw her as a disgrace for allowing herself to be cuddled by the minions of Slaanesh, she'd go into self-exile and never return unless needed.

Sale'thaea was then a homeless wanderer of the surface of Regis I, it came to her as almost no shock that the Farseers and the entire population to find shame and resentment to her foolishness, though apathetic to her reasons. She was ordered to take her things and join the mon'keigh on their homeworlds and only comeback once she had something of greater importance.

And so she did, a couple of days later she was guided to the nearest UCAF transport and sent down to a bustling space port only to find nothing good to come from living here. She assumed that this place was nothing like her home, even though it did have a few places that looked a bit like somewhere, but her kin who of the Ulthwe were not allowed to have her live with them.

Instead she lived at the missionary centre of the UCAF for displaced people from the war; she was to live with the many hundreds within the hostel, until they could be sent off to the further lines in the rear systems to help rebuild their lives.

It was only another month before a transport would arrive that she saw something different, she wasn't like these humans, or at least not in the way she saw herself. The eldar mind is a complex thing, even if not as mathematical in form such as the advents, but still emotionally and psychologically it was a maze.

It was then that she decided to leave the hostel and look for a place to work or at least find a place to live, she didn't get far though, her meagre possessions of a few crystals and a handful of gems were only so much to keep for herself, she was almost out of currency when 'he' found her.

A raven haired black armoured man, long rivets of spiked hair, he looked pale in skin, eyes glowed hollow silver and his left cheek marked with black lines. He was a UCAF marine alright, but his armour stated to her that he was a death guard marine.

She had stumbled about for some time as she tried to look for herself; she had spent some at a local pub, as a thought to simply try to drink her sorrows at the darkest of her days. But then as she was running tired and low out of currency a young man asked to take her to a safe place to rest.

UCAF population standards spoke in volumes as most young men were usually trained to be as courteous as possible, and cautious to look out for communities. The man that had such empathy for her was a soldier, not of this world, but knew of the people well enough.

He had not intended to find her wandering about and drunk however. But he knew the rules still applied, he took her to a short walk to the local academy barracks of his compound and had her rest there.

She woke the next day and found herself in the company of the 331st UCAF Death Guard's, a cloned army of advanced human soldiers created to fight the covenant, their commander, Major Miguel Radec had her rest in the secondary barracks for the night.

She was surprised that he'd actually look out for her, but simply implied it as common courtesy; he'd allowed her the chance to stay there with him in the UCAF marines barracks as a guest or a watcher for the base and maintainer. She didn't like the idea of being a simple house maid, but she was tempted by the offer, not many were going to actually hire her as she had no skills required for any job except conflict, but she barely ranked a security officer.

Being the daughter of such prestige she'd have chosen to become a farseer or a banshee, not a simple maid, but seeing as she would almost find no other job, she took it. And she had yet to regret ever accepting that position.

Almost a couple of years later and she was working at the desk of the complex, the computer crunching out all sorts of files that she barely needed to pay attention to, and all the areas of the base wiped clean by the other helpers, such as Jenny and Mate'.

She had not yet regretted her decision, but she felt as though she was beginning to resent it, the job seemed to offer next to nothing activity either than sorting out the shipments of equipment and storage, and then the simple cleaning of the furniture and occasional cooking.

She never had expected 13yr old clones to ever eat as much as they did, but she was surprised nonetheless, Miguel simply laughed and stated that she never needed to cook, seeing as she usually followed basic recipes, and her only duty was just watching the base, until they left.

Miguel and the 331st were to be sent to the new frontier in the Midlothian front, the covenant had sent a new force to impact on the weary defenders of the imperium, and it looked as though they had brought a new force of ships and troops.

But their tactics were erratic as the colonies were under attack and then stopped, there was mystery probing's of ships all over the fronts, and that seemed to send Miguel into a concerned feeling, too many attacks no advance.

She didn't honestly care, or she tried not to, but with as much of the war going on, she couldn't ignore any of the reports. She'd either join the UCAF in going to the front or she'd remain here for whatever other marine force came down for their yearly break.

She didn't like the idea of leaving the major, but staying seemed safer, or she could try to look for a trader's job along with some exodites, but they had significant issues as was with trying to obtain FTL capable engines from the UCAF.

She decided to follow Miguel, even if it was front line he'd look out for her, and that was when she realised that things were going to get very bad, to a point she really did wonder why she bothered to even go.

2534

-UCAF Chariot of Fire: Haldane class Heavy Destroyer

The 1.25km destroyer glided carefully in the depths of space, its front triangular prow aiming the MAC forwards for anything of threat, the bristling sides of the ship all pointed into the void searching for a target. The Chariot was not the only ship out here; it was followed closely by the other 24 ships of the 15th recon fleet.

The sweeps was routine and basic, search and destroy, but the covenant were being stealthy and equally devious, using all their new stealth ships to fight the UCAF in their own search and destroy missions. But as far as the battles have gone, there were almost no major losses, but a number of damaged ships on both sides.

Once they passed the outer system rim, the sweep ended, the ships disengaged and began to head over to other systems along the front. A flash of white and the luminescent white swirl of white engulfed the ships into slip-space.

As they travelled, Major Miguel left the CIC and headed to the main star chart, his eyes adjusting to the endless swirl of slip space as they traversed it, most UCAF ships had a filter that allowed the human eyes to receive the images of the actual portals, but they never turned them off, unless power shortage.

He arrived at the desk and was greeted by Captain Odell Monte, the 30 year old man with brown hair and a charming face, stared at the desk of the interstellar network, there was nothing in between the next few jumps, but Miguel had a feeling that he was going to be acting very soon.

"I have found that the reports from Captain Thule of the regions to be under constant attacks as odd, because there is absolutely no record of anything in these systems, Indigo Sigma and Delta, both report of nothing of significant, but then again, no ship had been entering or exiting of the region." He stated curiously.

"So that's where we take the fleet sir?" Miguel asked.

"No, that's where ONI sends you in." Specialist Jorgen said coming from his console.

The ONI spook was too comfortable in Miguel's opinion, he had much to hide, and little to answer for, and that didn't sit right with him. But Miguel was programmed to not ignore orders, even if they were somewhat bullshit.

"How do we enter the system?" Miguel asked.

"You and your squad will arrive by a slingshot tactic from the far side of Sigma, and then you'll group up with a helldiver squad on the ground, with a squad of space marines who the imperium kindl gave us and a single new MVS-XG3-079 Spartan and service vehicle. I'm sure you'll be familiar with its pilot, and the others accompanying you." He replied with a passive yet denoting tone.

"Yes sir." Miguel said as he departed.

XG3_079_Spartan_by_vforvengeance is the owner to the MS-Halo/Gundam idea.

-Hangar Bay-

Sale'thaea or now known as Thaea, seeing as the marines couldn't be bothered to call her by her full name, entered the large cougar APC. She was embarrassingly dressed in a skin tight combat suit with an extra layer of bio reactive gel, and then a full space BDU. She felt absolutely naked, in her sense, as she never wore such thin combat suit before, her other would have been nice as she didn't need to wear as much extra on top, or wear uncomfortable inner underwear.

Humans seemed to get around fine, but she didn't like linen, she hopped into the driver's seat and sat down, her ears needed to be covered in combat ear guards, which were altered to suit her. And then she had to wear a pair of HUIU- holographic user intelligence unit goggles to see what was happening.

She didn't like this mission, especially since she was a non-combatant, but then again, the term was no longer liberally used anymore, so she was either going to have to do it either way. She strapped herself in and then watched as the driver got in, his silver hair, as with all death guard seemed to shine as he put of his set of HUIUs and set the APC for the drop.

A crane cranked the APC over the mouth of the launch bay, and set the equipment for a combat launch, they'd be dropped on after the XG3 079 Spartan. Thaea didn't really want to join, but the ONI spook said that it was concerning her people, and that was enough for her to jump on in, even as questionable as the person was, she could tell he wasn't lying, as all his emotions pointed to reality, a real threat.

She watched patiently as the orders for the drop teams and squads prepared for combat, they'd all have short time before things went into action, a 48 hour mission and a lot of hostile threats to come.

"All units launch is in 30…"

XXXXX

Matthias hadn't wanted another assignment since the work to reclaim the eldar craftworld, but this one was too good to pass up, the covenant front had changed in the west and attacks had become increasingly unpredictable, and even more dangerous as there was a possible new plan of attack.

But also there had been rumours of a new enemy unit, not just some rumour but actual records of new combat unit. New mechanised assault armour that was not like the normal revenant class combat suit, but more advanced. But the more horrific truth was that it was being piloted by captured children of the lost colonies of the first attacks.

If the rumours were true then the war might take a turn for the worst, as the children might be cloned, the covenant had powerful enough technology and if they decided to begin their own force of suits much like project RAY, then things will go downhill and fast.

But there was more to this, Matthias had seen one image of an infiltrator who managed to get a close up of the commander in charge, it was Lorinoree Torenesee, a high commander of the covenant special operations. Which meant a greater chance of this rumour being true, as he saw the image of someone supposedly dead, unit Anna SP-ALPHA- a candidate for the Spartan Alpha corps she was initially allowed, until Dr Haley had her removed and sent back, the young girl was supposed to have been returned, but that was when the attack on Haven began and her transport lost.

Anna was a child who lived in Matthias' street 9 years ago, and went missing over a year before the attack on the colony, he assumed she was taken by some abductors, but realised that he lived in one of the most secure regions on the planet. It didn't make much sense; it wasn't until he accidently saw her in one training facility on Psi Roti, and orbital zero-g base.

The UCAF and ONI had him restrained when he began to speak with her, as she was his older brother, of sorts, he was warned never to try and speak with her again, and anything in violation of his duty as a soldier would end up with him in jail with a warrant for treason.

He decided to never speak of it, but the reality remained very much to him, she was alive, and in the hands of those he did not trust. But now, she was in the hands of the enemy, and potentially a greater threat than that of an entire platoon of space marines.

He clicked his gear and went over his suit diagnostics as they prepared to launch, he could see Mitchel getting into his launch tube, it was smart to bring one piece of armour, but then again, being very cautious with Spartans who have been converted is also a good precaution.

Tanya called over the com line.  
>"Is there something wrong commander?"<p>

"Nothing Tanya, just something tells me that I'm going to see an old friend really soon." He replied.

"Ok sir, who is it?"

"It's my little sister, who I left back on Haven's Gate."

XXXXX

Strike Cruiser- His Undying Will

Brother Cestus of the ultramarines tactical squad had believed nothing could be more agitating than having a raving guardsman go on about his life, or the chants of a local drunk, but nope he was wrong, this tech marine named Loc had proven to him that there were those far more annoying.

"Jeez this piece of junk wouldn't last another bleeding run in with anything shorter than a frikking gauss round, one hit and your suit's as good as scrap. Who the hell puts this converter right next to the bloody exhaust, were they trying to get you guys killed? How are these positions of the external breather supposed to work, they don't even connect properly unless manually, and that can be dangerous if it's damaged… ranting…."

Cestus was receiving a few new upgrades; his new stealth attachment was being added along with a number of upgrades, such as a new fusion generator and about a dozen reactive energy panels to stop energy weapons from frying him alive. And what seemed to be regenerative energy shields and Nano reconstruction units.

He had almost completed the 6 hour ritual, but there were still significant upgrades required to his suit before being launched to the surface of Sigma, along with 5 of the other marines, he was surprised that a dark angel and a space wolf were in the same room.

There were 5 veteran marines chucked into a single squad due to some rather unfortunate set of events, all were to be sent to the ground alongside a special task force to investigate the loss of communication from one colony and investigate a possible new threat.

He wasn't sure about the mission; the planet seemed almost ominous, despite it being so quiet. His attention turned to the arrival of brother sergeant Duncan arrived, his strong sight of figure made all his fellow marines snap to attention, he himself couldn't budge because of the upgrades though.

Brother Sergeant didn't need to know that he couldn't move, he simply saluted back and said.  
>"Brothers we have a mission of grave importance, one that I believe that you may find disturbing, as there is a threat we have yet to see…"<p>

XXXXX

(Aki03 is the creator of this character. Please be cautious as I will alter this, as there is many things I need to update with my story, try to avoid confusing later.)

Character:  
>Original Name: Anna<br>UNSC-Name: Aldella-ASP03 (Alternative Spartan Project) – My one is Spartan Alpha of the UCAF  
>Covenant-Name: Nana 'Dlauree<br>Born: Planet Sargasso (Haven's Gate-Prodigal System)  
>Reborn: High Charity<br>Gender: female  
>Race: Human<br>Covenant race classification: Sangoria  
>Age: unknown (approximately 15 years old)<p>

Military:  
>Faction: Covenant<br>Official military rank: unknown  
>Weaponry: 1 Type-01 Plasma Sword, 1 Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle (Plasma Rifle), 1 Type-00 Combat Frame System "Curse"<p>

Random information: (I have an idea of what to say about her, but I should try to avoid altering until much later, and to all reading do not follow this character bio, as I will alter it from the template)  
>Military rank:<br>She have no official military rank, because the prophets deny her existence. Thats the reason why she is controlling a mech who looks like an Elite. Her mech have the military rank "Zealot", while her own rank is "Heretic".

Type-00 Combat Frame System "Curse":  
>This suit is the covenant answer to the "HRUNTINGYGGDRASIL Mark I Prototype Armour Defence System" or known as "The Prototype". The UNSC-Prototype was heavily armed and able to fly for a few moments. Due to the loss on the Covenant side, the Hierarchs decided to create their own prototype-armour.  
>"Curse" is the first prototype on Covenants Side. It can be controlled by a neural interface and is equipped with an enhanced shield generator, 2 integrated Type-2 Gravitation-Impulse-Weapons and 8 small Anti-Gravitation-Booster.<br>This "vehicle" is designed for close ranged combat, any heavily parts were removed to increase agility, movement and velocity.

Sangoria:  
>The covenant name of this race is part of an experiment. Sangoria is the mixture between the covenant name of the Elite "Sangheili" and the token "Oria". The meaning of "Oria" is rather unknown, but a vague translation means "enlightened of the fallen".<p>

XXXXX

Operation: Fall from Grace

The teams made their entrance through the atmosphere at high speeds, in the APC Thaea didn't know if the bucket of metal was going to melt from the super velocities of re-entry through the atmosphere, but she tried not to think about it.

Miguel and his squad were strapped into their harnesses in the back of the APC trying to not accidently poke each other with their massive LMGs and heavy weapons, it was odd that they never bolted their weapons down, but the situation was much like a combat drop, so they needed to exit as soon as they broke through the atmosphere.

Thaea also noticed that she was strapped down and had her helmet on; due to something called a halo drop was to be commenced as soon as they broke away. She was about to ask, but that was when the drop began, the marines unbuckled and they stood up, magnetic boots holding them barely to the floor as the APC thrusters kicked in and Thaea felt the world change orientation.

The squad was facing the hatch as it then blew open, they unclamped as they jumped, exiting at high velocities from the APC into the atmosphere, they'd engage in securing their landing posts in moments.

Thaea only felt things go back to normal as the APC closed the doors and went back to a normal landing procedure; she almost threw up from the force of the jolt but held it back. She said.

"That was the worst warning, ever, in the history of warnings." She stated blandly.

XXXXX

Matthias and Strike team landed on their feet, their glaives opening for them in the deep wilderness, they regrouped and checked in, and all were present, including Mitchel. They were now ready to throw themselves at their enemies as soon as possible.

Which wasn't long, they noticed from their sensor sweeps that the colony was abandoned, and it got worse as there were covenant all over the place. Matthias signalled back to base to report on what happened, all he received was a confirmation and continued advance into the colony.

"This is striker actual, preparing for contact at entry point command confirm." Matthias called.

"Recording, just keep it clean, we don't need their entire force to bear on you too soon, wait for the space marines to do that." Jorgen responded.

The team entered the region, Mitchel took to the rear guard and prepared for their attack pattern, the action would be a simple recon and then attack, if the Rules of Engagement change then they'd adapt it.

(High Ground Halo 3 design- just for a bit of clarification- also modified)

Matthias took point, running ahead to the front of the large doors of the hillside entryway into the colony compound; it was buried into a large mountainous region where a valley was supposed to stretch. They'd need to get by the front gate and the watch tower though, and then reach the interior gates to the colony, but this wouldn't be easy.

Matthias noted that there were plenty of scorch marks and blast pits all over the place, the colonists put up a heavy fight, but there were no signs of their bodies or their remaining equipment. The covenant were being very clean with their work, which really concerned Matthias, if they had Anna she'd be in the colony, but why was the covenant here?

He cleared his movement to the top of a high concrete wall, it wasn't like ceremite or terracrete, it would break from a lot of pressure, but also from years of weather. He carefully checked his sights and confirmed over a dozen contacts on his scanners.

4 on the wall above and 2 in the watch tower, another 18 within the entryway complex itself, they'd need to time this correctly or risk alerting the rest of the covenant off before the 1.5 hour mark. The space marines were soon to arrive and they'd need to cover their ground fast.

"Ken deal with those two on the watch tower on my mark, Isa breach the left gate into the complex and be quiet about it, we can't tip the others on the wall yet, as soon as the guards go down take the wall guards. Tanya hack the security system and muffle all their incoming transmissions, Carol you're with me." He ordered.

As soon as they reached their designated formation Matthias called.  
>"Mark."<p>

The flash of lights and the muffled sounds of low pops sent the two guards on the tower down, the jackals only going down a moment after the other. Isa took to his action and silenced all the 4 guards on the wall, Matthias opened to main gates enough that he and Carol snuck in undetected by Tanya's sensor loops.

"Isa close in on the far complex to the right, it's the one with the busted water main, enter through there and get into the base. Tanya head over to those missile defence controls, it has an uplink to the sat net, get us live feed over this place. Ken move up with Mitchel and cover our rear guard, we'll remove the rest of the guards."

The squad followed in, Isa headed in through the water main, his cloaking skin activating. Tanya headed on to the missile defence grid and found a laptop with the manual control still working. Ken and Mitchel took to the rear and watched the guard points where there were possible foes. Matthias and Carol got to a large garage with tools and a mongoose lying around.

He could hear the sounds of computer chatter and walking, and some sound motions from possible hostiles. As he and Carol went up the stairs, they detected 4 beings, none possibly aware of their defences dropping.

He signed for a rapid successive attack and brought his silenced AR to bear with flash light, he found the switch for the room's lights and prepared. He flipped the switch and then brought his gun to bear on one grunt, one engineer, and an elite ultra.

They both fired their weapons on the elite and Matthias silenced the grunt with a whip of his side arm, the elite dropped to the ground as his shields buckled before he had a chance to react. The engineer simply stayed motionless and continued its work.

Matthias knew better than to fire on an engineer, they explode, and there weren't any sanctioned units in visible range, if it was sanctioned he'd then shoot it.

"The lookout is clear, Tanya what can you see from the sat net?" Matthias asked.

"Nothing much, there's covenant patrols going in by standard escorts all over the place, the only thing is that there's an unusual amount of troops in one place, it's not a barrack and that's for sure, but they have over an entire battalion of elites and I think a few special projects."

"Then that's where we're going, Isa have you cleared the complex?"

"I've just… finished, that damned fucking zealot almost took my head clean off, it hid from my sight when we entered but it didn't have enough time to call for help." He replied tersely.

"Good, we're moving out striker squad." Matthias ordered.

They headed on to the rear doors of the base's motor pool where a dozen warthogs remained, some damaged, and others in ruins. They took the closest with minimal wear and tear and headed on.

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(This is Standoff- based off of just to clarify)

Miguel's ADP- Atmospheric Drop Pack retracted as the squad made landfall, they were within the colony's range, just that they needed to disable the sensor net and localise the covenant forces activities in the region.

The squad found that the place was empty, but that wouldn't last very long, once they disabled the net for the covenant forces, they'll come crashing in. Their support was over 20km over into the colony's blind spot, but the squad was in the open.

"Death squad move in and begin execution of objective alpha."

They did as he ordered, there was no speaking, they were almost exactly alike, in mind and thought, he just had experience, and they had the skills and capabilities to follow his orders. Once accessing the main complex, they began their plan; the network would jam the covenant sensors and detection units from the space marines and the approaching squads long enough to complete the mission.

"Commander, 5 minutes until execution of orders, beginning now, be advised though, 4 incoming drop ships." Lieutenant reported.

"Okay, all units fan out into defensive formation gamma. Bring all AA and AIR weapons, we'll hold until extraction time, and then begin with objective beta." He ordered.

The squad did as he ordered, the 10 man squad ran about and prepared as the 4 drop ships and 8 fliers made their attack runs, the deactivated turrets ran back up, their scanners locked to all the approaching targets. The sky was then light up by thousands of high calibre anti air rounds.

Miguel detached a mounted M90 Vulcan repeater from a weapons locker and brought the triple barrelled mini-gun to bear on the waves of covenant. The mini-gun rolled into action, firing over the incoming troops, his HUD had a kill counter as to how many he got on his stream of kills.

Last he checked it was over 35 in a row, he expected to get close or above that target range today.

"Brothers of Death, bring righteous justice upon our enemies."

He and his brothers lit the killing grounds with litanies and songs of their holy order, as a brotherhood of merciless killers, they were very strict upon faith, and they demanded to have their say within what they do as their faith. (These guys are like Krieg Death Corps, just armoured and trained like crazy.)

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Striker squad arrived at the drop point, at that moment the covenant battlenet went down, Matthias and the squad didn't need to wait long, the sounds of the incoming drop pod could be heard from miles away.

The space marines took to the stage, bringing heavenly fire upon the covenant, their weapons screaming of death and the will of their emperor, the covenant forces near their position were easily torn to shreds, all assortments of weapons carving holes into the landscape.

Matthias drove the warthog as close to the objective point as he could made sure the squad was ready, they arrived at the front doors to a complex in the colony. It was a large black square at a diamond shaped formation. It had the large logo of the Hyperion Corps on the sign next to it.

"What is this place?" Tanya asked.

Matthias remembered, this place, the ship…

"I know, Anna was taken via a shuttle, with the Hyperion Corps logo on it, it was inbound for Sigma, which means this place, ONI… ONI controlled a number of corporate stocks in the past, but gave them up when the covenant arrived. This place though, this was recorded to be a training facility for the RAY program."

"Why would they take her here, if she was a Spartan?" Tanya asked.

"That's the question, why she failed the program, come on, if I'm right then there's a lot worse things to happen. And I doubt the space marines and Death squad can hold those waves back for long." He said gesturing to the open doors.

As they rushed in, they noticed that there was almost no one there, only the fresh corpses of the ONI security and Hyperion defences. The smell of blood was still in the air, which meant that the facility had only just been breached.

Mitchel in the rear had to crouch as the hallways didn't open to wider objects until the lower levels, which were made to lift the MVFs. They were getting closer, Matthias could feel it, and he could sense her presence, Anna, his little sister.

They arrived at lab 049, this was it, he knew it, and they rounded the corner and found what they were looking for. 200 odd persons, 20 being human, 2 being engineers, 18 hunters, 40 grunts, 30 jackals, 40 drones, 20 elites, 30 brutes.

But there were 3 other things within visual range, 1 being the odd looking suit with purple lines, it was shaped like an elite. 2 people were there, one was purple skinned and had a strange aura of light, she looked human, but she had horns protruding her skull, and the other was clearly eldar.

They were in the middle of an interesting scene, one child, it was a proto-form, Rey, and he seemed scared to be facing the eldar woman that now was placing her hands on his head. One of the scientists attempted to stop her, but was knocked back by an elite ultra, who in turn growled a cruel laugh.

The boy who was being psychically rewritten began to scream from the effort of putting up a mental barrier, Matthias was almost fuming from what he could see. The sick bastards were trying to capture a proto-form to use against humanity.

"Ken, take aim on those brutes, the rest of the squad will engage, Mitchel will take on that enemy suit though." Matthias ordered.

"Sir, we're outnumbered, we don't know what's happening, we can't ascertain the situation, and we need to regroup with the space marines or at least Death Squad." Tanya objected.

"Your advice has been noted Tanya, but if they get away with that sample of DNA then were going to have a lot more problems than a hearing." He replied.

The squad was hesitant, this was the first time they had seen the commander so angry, and he never revealed his true emotions, unless he had a reason.

"Begin engagement." He ordered.

Ken took his sniper and fired the mass accelerator into the brute guards, 5 dropped in rapid succession with 2 injured. Tanya threw an EMP blast from her Nova tool, it disabled the squad of elite's shields, long enough for Isa to take to the ground and bring 5 down.

The covenant armoured suit changed its target, the suit faced the oncoming force, and its commander an elite officer ordered her to remove them. But as the suit turned, Matthias could see her…

Anna's face was as beautiful yet empty, her face was empty, and her eye lit with only the ignition of the suit, her face was cold and pained. She didn't even respond verbally to the orders, just looked at him and the others, he could see the mark burned on her naked body, the covenant mark of shame, his heart burned in fury.

At that moment, his pent up anger, despair, love and hate rushed in the most magnificent form of death wielding, his AR blew through the air in one hand and in the other his magnum fired off in constant streams. The face of one elite blew clean off as he charged, the magnum took another 2 more, before he reloaded in mid jump and caught his AR in the same move.

The elites turned to fire upon him, but as they did he moved from their reach and grasped one by the arm, he twisted about and jammed the bayonet of his AR into the torso, and he fired into the spilt organs of the elite, its armour doing nothing to stop it from dying.

The motion brought the corpse over his shoulder and into the forms of its other allies, he twisted in mid-air as he jumped away, bringing to bear his magnum it took the head of an unprepared elite zealot in moments. He didn't realise it but he was screaming, his voice being amplified in terrifying volumes, almost everyone could hear his voice, it was deafening.

"I am Matthias Blackstorm, the demon of shadows, ender of days, fear my wrath, fear my anger, dear my hate, fear me… for I bring judgement for the pain and sorrow of all those who lived in my eyes. I swear that you shall all pay!"

His screaming continued as he fired a dozen rounds into the squads of jackals, and then firing the lower secondary trigger sent a M40 grenade round into the terrified squad of grunts, blood and methane filled the air.

But Matthias couldn't stop, he wouldn't, he wanted to kill them, all of them…

The covenant suit crashed the ground near him, he watched with sorrow to see the figure of Anna, she looked so emotionless, and that was when Mitchel engaged. The world regained some sense of reality as the rest of Striker squad made their entrance.

The eldar female couldn't complete the rewrite and her demon controller decided to leave, the covenant began to depart in numbers. The elite commander left with only yelling out his last orders, but Matthias wouldn't allow the bastards such satisfaction.

The XG3 arrived, as per his prior orders, the Spartan armour fired with its shield and AR into the covenant forces, and fired hip missiles, one of which struck Anna, who screamed in pain. The battle was soon over, the commander escaped, the scientists were mostly fine, and Rey was alive in a sense.

But the demon controller got away; this raised the question as to what chaos was doing with the covenant and what was happening in the covenant that such things were allowed to happen. But also of what was happening to the youth who were left behind in the colonies lost or destroyed.

Matthias simply lent over to Anna, her blood pooling at her side, she looked at him.

"Brother, you came back." She smiled so softly.

"Yeah, I did didn't I? I never break a promise, you know me…"

"Brother, where's mother?" She asked through her broken frame.

"She's waiting." He replied softly.

It was after all those years ago, not since the loss of his brother and his family or all those of the first Striker Squad that he ever did this, cry.

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(The grim future is yet to come, more in store, and before you ask me anything, yes I will go back to cover a lot of things, but this is to put an end to Matthias and his squad unless you want me to put them in later. There is also the fact I need to cover Archer and his quest for the other entities, and then we have the records of what is to come, and then an end part for Taldeer and then UCAF war with the Tau.)

Please put suggestions and review.


	7. Chapter 7

CH3

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Dark Days…

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These are a compilation of mini stories of Dark Eldar activities within the UCAF Universe!

(These are also posted on Deviant Art; check it there if this gets taken down)

Halo is owned by Bungie

Warhammer is owned by Games Workshop

(Overview is at the end, that's where I'll explain everything.)

This is the only time I will ever state it for this series. And also I created the UCAF and started a halo/wh40k crossover on my fan fic account if you're interested just go there.

(To those who read this, this is a compilation of special characters for the favourite artists that I create these characters from, and also the OCs from friends. Enjoy.)

2531

On the colony of Souza Phi, Thom Batel fired his MA5C at the approaching shadows, the attack had been so sudden, they had come in swarms like the locusts of Tanden Fields, but these were worse than locusts, they were a plague sent from the abyss of the void itself.

The shadows avoided the precise strikes of his MA5, that didn't stop him from blowing apart another one with his grenade launcher. His victory was short as he ducked to avoid the splinter rounds, they blew into the walls and embedded themselves into the wall so deeply, and he could feel the air stiffen with stale poison.

His eyes opened to glimpse the approaching shadow; he brought his M6 out of his left holster and fired 3 successive rounds, each hitting its presented target, the figure dropped to the ground in a pool of its own blood.

He turned to fire upon anything else, but he was struck by a bayonet into his armour, he realised that the blade was deflected thanks to the improved joint plating; he grabbed the sharp edge and twisted it. The bayonet snapped in two, he grabbed the being by the chest plate and kicked it in the crotch.

It dropped to the ground, and he pulled his MA5 and fired into its face. It carcass left the ground and fell into a messy pile next to the other bodies. Thom reloaded his MA5 and began to hunt for the other shadows, but all in response was a wave of splinter rounds.

He ducked and moved from cover as a small ball of black crystal landed in his cover, it detonated and the area was covered in black spikes, he'd rather avoid such things. He moved down the street, covering his back as he rushed to the end of an alleyway.

He was then stopped by an elegant figure; she held very little clothing and wore what would be said to be a mesh shirt and a loose set of lingerie. He set to fire upon the sharp figure, but was surprised that she moved fast, he dodged her first strike by scant millimetres. He then opened fire again on full automatic; the rounds ricocheted off the surrounding alley.

He opened his eyes to see that the figure was only struck one in the shoulder; she gritted her teeth in fury and struck again, this time as he lay on the ground. He reflexed his back and rolled away as the strike was made, cutting a deep line in the ceremite ground.

He fired again, but ran empty, instead he fired his combat grenade, the round detonated as the being made another run, the alley was lit by the HE. Then it was quiet, Thom realised that it was quiet, no sound no ringing of the explosion, he could hear that there was nothing.

And that was when he realised he was hearing anything because of the muffled ear guards and of his blood slowly pool at his body's edge, a shrapnel piece had impaled his lower abdomen, he couldn't breathe.

He could see Angela, waiting for him at home, their child so close on the way; he could only draw his eyes to the small picture of them waiting, his bracelet glowing, and then lighting his face. He passed into unconsciousness and let death slowly consume him.

But the figure was still moving, she approached him and saw such a sight, she picked the small bracelet up, and then she looked at him, she pitied the young man. She'd have to take such a prize from his lover, and turn him into a husk of what he was, but this was her life. As a Succubus, she was expected to do such things and she never questioned it.

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From afar of Batel's position, the remaining fighters of the colony continued to strive for victory, even when faced with utter destruction. A platoon of PDF fighters on the edge of the city gathered to fend the oncoming swarms of darkness, they braved most of their opposition well, though were beginning to tire from the effort.

Luc watched with absolute vigil, keeping all movement accounted for, the damned xeno came in swarms to test each defence, and he had proved to have sharp eyes to pick each moment of attack. As one shadow crept along, he brought his SR-99 out, the shadow seemed to vanish, but that didn't mean it wasn't there.

"Commander, do you think help will arrive, sir?" The sniper asked.

"It will, just not right now solider, just keep your sights on those shadows, and report anything that goes wrong." He ordered.

"Yes sir." Luc replied.

Luc turned his head back to face the empty field; he hoped that by joining the alliance forces, he could do his part for the colony. He'd dreamt of reaching the stars and fighting in the front lines as a proud marine of the UCAF, but that dream had come sooner, but it wasn't against the common known alien homogeny known as the covenant.

He was sure that the alien race that they were fighting was nothing like them, these were aliens who stuck to the darkness and attacked with terrifying grace and ferocity. He searched for the shadow that constantly eluded him. He couldn't see it again, which was odd, it tended to move whenever an opportunity presented itself.

Just then there was something wrong, he watched about, a low hum, it was different.  
>"Sir is that an engine roar or is it just me?" He asked.<p>

"It's just you corporal, now focus, those slippery bastards will do anything when you're distracted; now turn the other way Luc." He said absently.

Luc did as he was told, but something wasn't right, there was no shadows within range, all of them were either gone or waiting, but waiting for what? Then a thought seemed to pop in his head. He took note of the surrounding, the ground, it was dark, he yelled.

"Sir, there's no light!"

"What?"

"Haven't you noticed that the ground is now dark?" He said.

The commander looked about, he was right, there were no shadows because there was no light, but why was it dark? The commander looked about, and so did the others, they could see what they missed, the humming, it was loud, loud enough that they could feel where it was coming from.

Behind them within the skies, there they saw oncoming despair, the raiders of hundreds of spiked and elongated vehicles all shaped like knives and daggers, they were already on top of their position. And soon it looked as though a black cloud of ravens had dropped from the skies themselves and blotted out the last rays of light.

"Marines of Souza we…" The commander was cut in mid-sentence.

His head was blown clean off by a blast of sharp energy, Luc turned to see the coming shadows that now blended in so well with the darkness. He began firing, and so did the last of the platoon, their weapons barking in the darkness, ripples of bright gold and red, thuds and screams seemed to echo in this absolute void of light.

A crescendo of violet and black danced with them, and so Luc fired out till his last, sniper rounds tearing flesh of the figure nearest to him, and then drawing out his side arm. His muzzle flash illuminated the darkness only enough to see the shadows dance; he fired another 5 times and then ran empty.

He walked back trying to reload; he kept his calm and his cool, but not his fear. He was terrified to the very core, he loaded the weapon and searched for a target… and it found him. He bumped into a figure behind him, and turned to only see his end, the sharp snap of blades and his weapon was knocked away, and he dropped on his side and tried to crawl away, his eyes still focused on the being in front of him, it was slender and very much lethal.

He was panicking at a rate his heart was screaming for help, and only when the figure reached out did he regret truly being here and now. It was of no surprise however that later his wonderful eyes were what gained him the position as a meat puppet for the lady archite named Shyntafae the Lone.

(Here's to Shinobi Raist.)

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Above the skies over Souza, Archoness Xetavia watched from the raider Ethereal Damnation, she watched with anticipation of reaping another world, she'd return to Forte' Gates, Coregrah, soon with a bounty of new slaves and fresh meat, and hopefully some better wine.

Her compatriot the Shyntafae, the Hellcat, was running amok on the grounds with her cabal ripping their way through to victory in the shadows of blood and gore, she could hear of the screams of pain and anguish from all the way up here, which really must be quite loud. Hellcat hadn't had such prey in almost months, this would be a great way for her to stretch her legs and go out for some fresh blood.

Xetavia was happy simply watching the destruction from the skies; she'd only ever join in when she had to, or when she was either bothered to, or really annoyed. She still couldn't believe that even after being announced as the new Archoness of dark eldar, for being human on top of which, she'd still hold her position as a ruthless leader.

She enjoyed the blood spilling and screams, she enjoyed the battles and vicious combat, even if she was supposed to be an ex-noble of some fancy place. She just sat back and enjoyed the view, it was her hobby to watch battles of all kinds, and even if that it meant that she'd be involved in some, still it provided entertainment when she got bored.

Another hour of watching the city burn and then her forces began to fall back, they arrived in the usual manner as they did all carrying living or dead objects for use. Hellcat returning with a prize of her own, and a gift for Xetavia, it was a young man with his armour somewhat intact and clearly in terrible pain.

"So I guess that means you've had an eventful hunt?" She asked nonchalantly.

"You should know Xetavia, the hunt was good and we've reached our bounty, we should leave before those damned colonists forces arrive, I head that they can be quite difficult." Shyntafae replied flexing her claws.

"Very well." She stated.

The wave of her hand and the helm took to leaving the planet, the masses of raider ships would leave as they had come, in a violent swarm of black mist. Only those who hid and survived the battle would ever tell the alliance of the horrors of the dark eldar and their arrival, but not their departure.

(Xetavia is owned by Mako85)

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(Beckjann owns this character)

Within the fleet of Abstinence and Depravation, the dark eldar raider in command of Archon Arnaer the leader of the Kabal of the Dead Reflection watched as the fleet departed the system. It would a long trip back to Coregrah, and with no warp it was a very long trip.

But still they had stealth and speed, enough to avoid detection of the usually hopeless defenders of the foolish mo'keigh colonies. Arnaer drank in the deep red of wine, or blood, if one were to be so frank. He did not seem as pleased as usual, most likely due to his usual dark demeanour, but it might have just been the fact that he had little challenge.

The UCAF marines were too easy a prey, and the Lady Archon may have thought them hard enough to beat, but she was wrong, they were no challenge and they had little to offer except their youthful bodies. The young child soldiers would make wonderful gifts, but they were yet to be prepared in the coming games, and he honestly doubted that any were even remotely experienced in battle.

But he shrugged off the thought and went to plotting, he wanted to outshine the damned human who called herself an Archoness, she only picked out the easiest of targets yet left him and his kabal somewhat unsatisfied. He could tell that the incubi were fidgety and that all his warriors were busying their new haul without the thrill of tasting as much fear.

He wanted a new target a new place that they could harvest, not some backwater pot hole on the side of the galactic road. He needed to find something enticing, something palpable, someone palpable, but the only things he could think of were the more powerful Spartans, which he'd rather not risk immediately. And then there were the imperium forces which remain active in engaging the covenant armies, but there was the tau and the eldar.

From what he had learnt, Spartans, even though not being considered the greatest like the space marines of the imperium, were still very capable of fighting in the field. He could also tell that there were too many factors involved with attacking them, so that idea would need to be planned much more with better intelligence.

The imperium was a target he'd much like to tackle, but there was one problem, range. The nearest imperial bastion was over 250 light years on the other side of the entire Region, he'd need to wait about 300 years to get to his target, and he wasn't that patient.

His other target was the tau, the only other race that was at war with the UCAF, but from what reports say, that conflict is soon to end. The UCAF had forced the tau into an agreement and said to bring the conflict to a close to challenge the covenant threat as soon as possible. That meant an enemy force was gathering its strength and he'd be out matched there as well.

That only left one other force that his kabal would and could easily tackle, the eldar, his pitiful kin who now mongered at the feet of the alliance as their pets. The eldar had lost their powers because this damned universe was so different, and that also removed the ability of warp travel. But no, his kin had grovelled at the feet of the human alliance and asked them to give them the technology in service for their knowledge of power.

The trade went well considering everything, just that they remained as passive allies to the UCAF, even if they were merely humans. At least they were logical in their decision, he'd have just ran off and begin to harass them as much as he could, which is what he was doing now.

The closest eldar forces were on minor trading worlds and a dozen planets, the lost craftworld of Kher-Ys ended up here with its entire population mostly intact. Which meant even more prey, his kin would taste the edge of his blade once he returned to Coregrah.

And he needed to locate a means of FTL for future raids, once he had that technology, he'd put that useless human Archoness to shame, that was if he could get his plan into action as soon as possible. He turned away from his thoughts and remembered his surroundings; he sipped the blood red wine and said to one of his warriors.

"Fetch me Dracon Alaktel; tell him we have some business to attend to." He ordered tersely.

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Part2

2533

Coregrah- Is a place that the dark eldar took, it was a colony on the edge of a nebula in Nova Stratus, and it is now used as a base and home for the new dark eldar raiders of my AU Halo/40 k universe.

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OCs by these artists on Deviant Art

Shyntafae Shinobi Raist

Dracon Alaktel owned by Docile Dragon

Archon Arnaer-Beckjann

Xetavia is owned by Mako85

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It took about 2 weeks to get back, but it was a better trip of so many other boring ones, the raider fleet of Abstinence and Depravation cleared the misty and subtle darkness of the Borealis Viton Nebula. The ships passed into the system of Verde Stratus, the opposite stretch of space next to Nova Stratus, it was a place where the UCAF called the verge. Here anyone could come and vanish, it was a place where the alliance didn't think and wouldn't look.

Thus the reason that made it perfect for a rebel colony to be formed, there some years back a bunch of rouges and individualists lived, people didn't care here, it was a quaint place. They did care when the dark eldar appeared from nowhere and took their homes though, they couldn't hold the defences though and were soon slaves to their new masters.

Coregrah was then renamed by the dark eldar, who launch and prepare their vessels for every moment they have the chance to begin raids on the fringe colonies. These raids would take days and even weeks to get back from one. The haul that Archoness Xetavia had brought however was the first largest bounty in years, which seemed to stimulate some enthusiasm to their waning situation.

The fleet passed along through the defensive ships all scouring and preparing, they approached the planet, which once was green and lustre was now a shell. It had darkness edging along its forests and plenty of grey that now appeared to mar its perfect surface, murky oceans now smudged once open oceans and the skies seemed to blacken with every passing day.

The fleet went by other ships and went through the cloudy skies, their experiments with local fauna and flora had resulted in some rather unique creations. There were plenty of dark spires of once great trees that once stood and the lakes of blue were now black and silver.

The city, where once hundreds of habitats and prefabs once stood, now blocky black buildings with sharp edges where on each figures in agonising pain where in place, watching and warning and reminding all those who lived in this place, who owned this world and who were the masters of it.

The fleet arrived in port, a massive circular structure with a large spiral case of spiky docking clasps; each looked like an organic stalagmite, but on closer inspection revealed the twisted forms of dark wraithbone and metal. Ornamented sculptures of figures grasped in agonising pain protruded from every level, even if you were a fair distance off, you could feel their gaze.

Xetavia left her ship, hundreds of warriors rushing off either dragging their haul or leftovers of their prey, they all cackled and roared with glee as they enjoyed their precious cargo. She had no tastes for such pitiful things of course; they were merely teenagers and soldiers of simple rank, not a tough challenge. She preferred some of the other archons, because they usually tested mettle of her ability, and to which she delighted to torture.

She strolled by as she watched them screaming and crying in despair, it was a sound she enjoyed so often, she was joined by Shyntafae who quickly finished ordering her subordinates to drag her prey back into the chambers for her. They walked together to their rooms.

"So any plans for tonight's feast?" Xetavia asked.

"Nothing, I really ran out of ideas when I learnt of that colony's deployment of troops from that scout, we barely have anything to do for a good time. I guess I'll just join in on the gladiatorial matches for a bit, I hear that one cabal managed to capture a Fenris." She said with moderate interest.

They glided by through the grounds to their waiting transport, as soon as they sat down, Xetavia waved to depart. The ebony vehicles moved with a sharp jolt and continued to accelerate onwards, its passengers continuing their discussion as they travelled.

"That does sound tasteful, though I'd rather mount my new playmate before I join in; he has rather wonderful eyes even for such a pitiful mon'keigh." She replied.

"Well then I do feel good to hear you've something to look forwards to, during tonight's feast I hear that Archon Vendexi and Anaer had some new ideas as places to attack." She stated rather uncomfortably.

There had always been the still remaining political play launched by the dark eldar against each other, especially with Xetavia and Anaer, this led to much internal conflict, but mostly assassination attempts. Which Shyntafae usually managed to foil at times. Things were always the same here, not much different back in their own universe, but it was a constant reminder for Xetavia to keep her guard up.

"You suspect that they may have something that might undermine your power?" Shyntafae asked.

"He wouldn't call such a feast with Dracon Alaktel at his side if he wasn't." She stated distracted.

She seemed to pause and then waited and then continued. "This could be bad for both of us, if his plan goes through, he'll gain the support he needs to keep you bogged down and depose me. So much for avoiding the useless political bullshit that comes through here, even in another universe we can't seem to dodge something involving this."

There was an uneasy sense of fact, Shyntafae was right with her. "So, do you intend to play cat and mouse with him? I know that he holds a few hidden hands, but surely we'd have a good chance to even the scores?"

"…Yes, which is why I plan to play it, you don't need to worry hellcat, if everything goes according to plan in this universe. Then the cosmos must really have some sick sense of humour." She replied with some thought.

Xetavia was surely brewing something up, and if all went well, then that blind fool wasn't going to be ready for her little part in this game. Shyntafae departed and Xetavia planned, she needed to make sure that fool didn't win this game; he needed to balk at one point, something that made sure he didn't gain ground…

XXXXX

(Question to anyone of and of Deviant Art, which does sexual content is prohibited, visual or just verbal/written, I'm not sure. Just warning any other readers here from either site.)

Archon Anaer sat upon his lounge, his armour gone and his back arched and tired, he lazed as he usually did, thinking about his coming plan. His body language at this point may not have looked serious but he was deadly serious in his core, and that was what drove him, to prove his worth as the better, the master, he dominate the field in plans, but not since they arrived, timing was all he needed.

Dracon Alaktel, his dear old friend agreed, he needed to grasp an opportunity and soon, or else he'd lose every chance in a long time before he could ever get another chance like this. Especially with upcoming events such as the Endless Dusk celebrations coming so soon, he wanted to make sure that he and his friend reached his goal at his side as the next archon in command and make sure that they were not opposed.

His hands arced over his slick and smooth hair, perfectly the way he liked it, he thought over to what he planned there was so much to do, and so little time, the timing was almost perfect, but there was the constant and unknown. Anaer was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the sound of soft footsteps approach. It wasn't up until those feet reached only a couple of meters away from him that he reacted, in a vicious toss of hands and arms he turned about and jumped about with his hidden wrist blade and pressed it upon the neck of something soft.

He looked to see it was his slave, an ex-banshee he captured sometime on a previous raid; she was trembling as he put the blade near enough to draw a bead of blood. He retracted the blade and said with a muse of humour lacing his voice.

"What might bring you here my dear trophy?"

She replied with a frightened and soothing tone.  
>"I heard of your return master, I thought you'd like to see me again."<p>

"Ah, yes, it has been a while since I made you mine…" He smoothed his hands over her figure in a motion of lust.

It had been so long since he had been in the comfort of a woman, but that was just him going over his life, never bothering to pay as much details to everyone else, unless he needed them dead. His sharp nailed hands moved so harshly upon her subtle skin, like he did so often he knew that this was just his way of saying he did not love like humans did, he obsessed. This slave was his, he dominated her, his hands reached up to her long red hair and tugged hard upon it, she did not gasp in pain as she used to, as she was used to his treatment.

He began to kiss her exposed neck and began to bite into her, like his usual practice of carnal pleasure he began to mark her body with his clawed hands and smothered himself with her scent; he didn't really pay attention to his surroundings.

If he remembered her correctly she was named, Varesilia, he named her Lucillia as her slave name. And so he drove himself into her, dragging her onto soft lounge and began to strip her down, he did same and began to thoroughly work his way over her skin.

He took in her form before he began to ravage her body, long red hair, green eyes, beaten and welcoming to pain and pleasure, she had the body of the past even after all the sessions. Her skin still pale and smooth, he was going to enjoy smothering her form.

He kissed her belly and worker his way up, she arched in pleasure as he began to work his way around her body, it wasn't long before was gasped at the sheer pleasure of being encompassed by the Archon. He gracefully brought forwards her figure and then let their hips join; he regaled the moment in absolute pleasure before he violently thrust his member into her.

It was then that he began to increase his pressure on her, as he accelerated the patterns of flesh meeting flesh; she gasped constantly feeling the wonders of her master going through her. It was moments later that he ejaculated into her without stopping, and then brought her to his face.

"We're only beginning my dear Lucillia…"

(I'm sorry but I decided to lessen this here… don't know until DA might have some qualms about this, and also some of the guys on might ask me some questionable things, so keep it brief, but good.)

XXXXX

Into the abyss, that what it was like for all those who survived the raids, especially for Oren-9987-0776, he was a marine, a young one at that. He was born as a clone of the UCAF, part of the Orussian Military ranks, trained and bred for war. He didn't think that this was what happened to those who lived in the stretches of the galaxy.

He had been on Darics Point near the Verger Nebula, he was stationed with over 2000 others, they were the best and the best never surrendered or simply gave into death. But now he wished that policy changed, he might be a warrior clone, but he was no idiot to simply accept this. These bastards had them taken here to be used as gladiators in their ring, he once protested to fight, to which he ended up dodging a lot of their warriors for 5 hours, the crowd got annoyed enough that they cancelled the event. And he ended up in a large set of chains for days on end, which honestly didn't break him.

Then Dracon Alaktel came to threaten him that if he didn't fight then he'd begin to execute them, but he responded with the fact that all of them were willing to die and they'd just make martyrs of them. He knew that Oren was correct in stating this, so instead he kept him on the side lines, and left him with bonding with a female eldar, he made sure to pick her for the next few matches with him, and it was that driven factor that made him fight. As an incentive he also made sure that his lover was always with him.

Alaktel was good in his means of motivation. Oren didn't fight then his lover does, and either way death to one of them, so that left Oren little choice, to keep his lover from danger, he'd fight for her sake until the end. He knew that he could get her and him loose from the control of these dark eldar, but it had to be a carefully planned thing, he needed to win this next Dusk tournament with his life intact for them to be freed to another level.

Present-

The arena doors opened, and he was thrown forwards, his black carapace armour intact, and his blades active and working, he was faced by ripper pack wolves. They weren't like their original form of grey and soft fur. They were twisted and part mottled they looked like horrendous mutilations of their once natural forms wrecked by the dark eldar experimentation.

He ran forwards, his blades lighting his path as he struck forwards, his genetically augmented strength aiding him in battle as he sent a crashing blow to the first of the wolves. The blade passed through the torso and the other through the hind leg, the beast dropped in an instant, split apart.

The crowds roared at the first blood, they loved to see him battle, because he was the best of the cabal's merciless killing machines. He was the only one with purpose and fury, they wanted him to fight, but also win, and once he was freed as a slave, he'd be a gladiator/mercenary and that was one policy that Lady Xetavia allowed if he survived.

He hacked and sliced, blood spilling over his armour and on the sand covered floor, he dodged as a mass of razor sharp teeth bit down where his head had been moments before. He kicked his feet up and nailed the best in the belly and sent it flying into another.

He twisted upwards and dodged more teeth as the wolves tried to overwhelm him, he jumped back and ran at them again, he battled once more, knives and all turning in the air and coming down in furious slices and hacks, and with precision he diced over a dozen more.

He seemed to send these beasts to their graves and in moments it became a bloody haze of gore and blood. He grappled with one and shoved a gloved hand into its torso, he punched hard, and crushed the wolf's heart, and he dropped the carcass and began to finish the others.

It was only after the wolves that he was soon brought to face the dark eldar hellions, their attacks scratching his armour and suit, but most missing anything critical. He leapt up and grabbed one by the board and pulled himself on, the rider was horrified as the marine suddenly kicked him from behind and he was slung forwards into a wall pike.

Oren continued his gory battle with a sense of pride that he could overcome these damned dark eldar on their own weapons and abilities, but that didn't meant that they were to be underestimated.

XXXXX

In the stands of the stadium, where a massive glass observation sphere watched from above, there all the glorious leaders of the cabals gathered, all enticed by the smells of food and the entertainment, they roared in approval at Dracon Alaktel's efforts in bringing their favourite warrior to fight. They all bartered that his life was to be sold, but Xetavia refused to sell him, he was a warrior of great honour and because of their policy, he earned his freedom from over the years, and besides he was a one man army, practically nothing short of an army of gladiators couldn't stop him.

Shyntafae agreed, the warrior needed to be released as part of his contract, and also because he was a freelance gladiator afterwards, he had no means of leaving the planet. And the only way he'd escape with his lover, was that if he got on a raid party with the cabals, but all the commanders knew not to allow him and that his loyalty was pledged with an automatic explosive range detection unit if he ever disobeyed or attempted escape.

He'd live here as a warrior of the arena either way, which stranded him, and that allowed Xetavia to manipulate him even more. Which was why the other cabals did not like her, she'd keep the best pieces of the arena for herself and use them against the other cabals, and they knew that she'd already agreed for his release if he won.

Many were planning to plot against her for this, but she was over a few steps ahead and they knew it, one wrong move and they were good as dead. Shyntafae was on the watch for her friend on top of which, and many of the other cabals knew that fighting Shyntafae meant an even worse death.

But that was the fact of being the cabal leader, Xetavia was the leader of the cabals, and only the one to depose or overrule her would be the next cabal patron or matron, which made things quite difficult for Anaer. It was then that he decided to release his plan.

Which was why this dinner was special, archon Anaer now toasted and said.  
>"Let us begin our first order of business, our next raid."<p>

They murmured it seemed a bit unlike the archon to present such an event in light of Archoness Xetavia's success, it was a bold play, but it had their attention. He continued.

"I have come up with an ingenious plan that could and would and will bring in a new stock of slaves, not these pitiful mon'keigh meat puppets." He gripped his face in disgust as he emphasised his displeasure about the human slaves.

"Where would you suggest we get new slaves?" Archon Ixancess asked, his eyes twisting between the two competitive leaders.

"I suggest we go to our old kin and their dying people, they have set themselves within the region of Odessa Proxima, a system over a dozen light years away." He stated.

"Odessa? You mean the trade world in between the edge systems and the UCAF? I doubt that there are many of our kin living there." Ixancess replied questioningly.

"Not exactly, a report for one of my infiltration forces has reported that there is an exodite colony forming there, and sufficient numbers for out taking. And also the colony has drawn its forces to the defence in the front lines only recently, which means that there is low defences for now and that the only ships that are in system are trade vessels."

"Which means an open glass case with a jewel ripe for the taking right underneath their noses." Dracon Alaktel stated.

The archon and the Dracon looked across to the other end, from all the looks of agreement and support the cold stare and mirthless smile of Lady Archoness Xetavia looked at him with guileless flaw, he knew he had struck up a storm, and someone had to either bust or break.

He felt thrilled, he was going to show that mon'keigh how to do things right….

XXXXX

In the depths of slip-space travelling within its ever present swirls of boundless light, the Mistral Dream rode the endless waves through to its destination. The Mistral was a UCA trade ship, it was 750m of titanium and iridium and plated gravity armour it headed on through the vortex of light.

On the command deck Evans Morden watched as his ship reached its final destination, the high ports of Morpheus, the capital of the Odessa Sectors. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the planet was still bristling with life; he'd be able to get great wares on his cargo, 3 weeks of hard work ready to be paid off by the colonists of the planet.

Morpheus was a critical zone in the UCAF, it was colonised by the eldar and the UCAF, their combined colonisation was a great effort for the people to live. Eldar lived in high rises and their more luxurious homes, apart from their human counterparts who lived in small prefabs and moderate sized homes. These conditions were usually how things were in the UCAF colonies with the eldar, they'd preoccupy the better or moderately good homes, and the human colonists simply accept their homes as they are.

XXXXX

2531

UCAF Edge of Grace

Warlock Vara Ishal wandered in her usual warlock garb, the tight dress seemed to still grab as much attention as it did when in the presence of the seers; she was always seen as somewhat of a beauty, that alone had her reputation as a warlock constantly changing. She was on this UCAF ship as part of the exchange and patrol program, she was only here as an assistant to possible attacks.

But she had never been in much danger since joining, the odd battles she had been in had seen many minor victories, however the war had seemingly gone quiet here in this sector of space. The covenant advances had been almost non-existent; she wondered where they might have gone.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she was greeted by a peppy faced child, he smiled and said.  
>"Vara, are you going to lunch yet? I've got some new recipes!"<p>

Jordan Hartman, the hyper active marine who cooked grenades and explosives for fun; he had a record for being the most annoying enemy to kill and had a weapons skill of a dark reaper and a harlequin. If anything could sum it up, it would be young Khaine on cocaine.

"Jordan, what new abominations of flavour have you made this time? Let me guess, flayed soup with a side order of roasted grunts?" She asked sarcastically.

"Nope that's next month. We've got miso soup and a lot of fresh meat from the Angus systems; they're supplying us with a lot new stock, possibly because I put down like 50 orders or something." He shrugged.

"Well, it's good to hear that someone seems to be in high spirits." Vara replied.

He looked at her with a questionable grin. "Well are you going for lunch?" He asked.

"A bit later, I don't really feel that hungry…" She replied truthfully.

Her stomach had enough of an assault since breakfast, to which she wondered why she even bothered to eat that scrambled Moa Egg with toast and Tobuscus Bacon, and that weird orange juice called Valley Forge. She almost had heart burn after the bacon, and the toast with the egg was more than she could handle.

She smiled kindly and somewhat as a front so she could just leave. "Have a good day monkey."  
>(Yes, instead of Mon'keigh, she calls Jordan monkey.)<p>

He returned her smile and absently walked off to his kitchen, she was amazed that, that child was a marine with a demolitions record and scout profile, she couldn't put her finger on the fact that he was almost impossible to kill.

She walked to her room, the small bull metal grey 5x5 room with nothing more than the bare essentials, she and only all eldar had their own rooms, rather to the dubious fact that they constantly complained about sharing rooms with humans. The UCAF wasn't too happy about the constant complains and simply selected specific ships that had certain rooms that could house their needs and put them on the vessels, afterwards not many complaints were really filed, except the colour schemes, to which the UCAF simply said for them to do it themselves.

Her room was still standard grey, and she honestly didn't care, seeing as she was used to changing ships every so often. The Grace was supposed to be a heavy cruiser; the 5.5km ship was on route to Nevada Theta, the system was filled with incoming ships from over the front lines, and thus her next stop off before being transferred to the UCAF Gates of Haven.

She was being sent along with most of the remaining marauders of the ship to there so that they'd be redeployed across the patrol lines. She heard that there'd been a sharp increase with attacks on the front lines. The covenant may have been planning to breach the front lines and directly attack the colonies or the craftworld Kher-Ys itself.

The eldar patrols had increased steadily over the past year as the war continued and thus a significant force of ships were now slip-space capable, the UCAF was going to pull away their last security and defence forces once the eldar had confirmed full acquisition of military strength.

Vara had never seen the UCAF more than they were, simple beings, they lived simple lives and died simply as they lived, short. But that reality was shaken when she learnt that not all things were the same, she had seen the powers of the advents when in talks with Farseer Taldeer of Ulthwe, their meeting was one that had revealed the difference of this universe to their own.

Now living in a universe where the warp didn't even exist, it was a very odd change from their life styles, Vara had to adapt to the fact that her powers were almost nothing and that she was going to have to deal with going through another set of training just to learn to live in this universe.

She really didn't want to give up on so many years of following the path of a warlock to being some being that happens to possess something called quantum manipulation. Vara liked the idea that she no longer relied upon the warp, but being nulled to a point where her psychic powers were all but nought. Then it really affected her.

She sat down on a couch near the port window that looked into slip-space, it was so different, she could see the wisps of energy rippling by the ship, and they looked entrancing. This was nothing like the warp, nothing to feel or hear, it was pure energy simple and powerful, if she learnt to gain access to this power, she'd be able to do anything that the advents could do.

She closed her eyes, and then went to rest, lying down on her bed, she didn't bother to change, and she had a dinner to attend in about 2 hours. And she really didn't want to bother herself with going over anything in her wardrobe.

XXXXX

2531- November

Fleet of Glorious Retribution (Engorge of Souls)

Heartslayer had been quite contempt with how much time had passed, 6 months since the end of the first talks and the first launch of his special fleet. His plan to ransack the colonies of the eldar nearby was in progress; however that was not without some question, the prophets had tasked him with ensuring that these eldar were alive and well, they'd be needed for another plan that they had in motion.

He replied to keep his promise of the capture and control of the eldar and their allies; however this was met with a lot of contempt. The other ship masters did not entirely trust him, this maybe in the good of the covenant, and he maybe a kin, but they sensed that he was one without true honour.

He attempted to deal with them by sending their ships to scout out enemy positions, mostly near the imperials, so that they'd be the first to know of his displeasure of their insubordination. The others under his command were manipulated by the demonettes, their enticing forms of dancing an art that had graced even the most brutalised warriors.

Heartslayer was unsure to continue on his path, he had secured his position and that was for sure, but he wasn't in the clear yet, the covenant was so easy to reach via their honour and pride, but he was still lacking, he needed to reach a prophet.

He smiled, he had liked the idea, when he reached the prophets then it was it, the covenant would bow to him, and then he'd tear the whole thing from underneath from their feet. The schism would weaken them for his new covenant, and his order would slaughter all who would stand against him.

He focused back on his temporary work once more, the UCAF was still holding out, he had no doubt that the imperials had probably secured their position within the alliance and the eldar, well he knew who his real enemies were.

"Commander, where's the nearest enemy colony?"

"At sector 233-223." The elite officer replied.

"Good, let's go purge some heretics…"

XXXXX

(This is going to get a little freaky, and yes I don't really care about hippies.)

Tharsus had never imagined how wonderful the world was, it was like no more war or blood, it was just so awesome, he was sitting on his linen rear end on this bed watching something called Grey's Anatomy; he had no idea how long he had been so angry, but now it was like…

He smoked from the local made pomade bong, the locals were so free spirited, they call this place… haven, or something of the sorts. He arrived 2 years ago when he found nothing to do, he was so high…

"Wow this is awesome…" He said watching the show over the solar celled plasma.

No longer the pain or the damned euphoria, sure it was fun, but it drains so fast.

"Hey man, got some more hash?"

"Sure." His brother replied.

He didn't know why he came here in the first place, all he remembered was that he came to kill them all, but then the acid and the stuff fumed his head, he thought it was toxic crap that they were shoving down their throats, but now he changed his mind, it was so much like freedom.

"Hey man, any more tunes?" He asked.

(Dear Khorne help us all)

XXXXX

Diary log of Corporal Mikael Arakovski- Marauders 2015th

_Now how to explain to one what an ork is? An ork is an 8ft killing machine, without a proper brain, or with one and just doesn't uses it, now to clarify here's an example. 2 days ago on the eastern front of the Operation Stalingrad. 20,000 strong orks were leading an attack on a small outpost in the 'Valley of winter's Grasp', now during the attack the marines who were left to defend the outpost were out gunned 100:1 and only 10 vehicles were available. The teams then formulated a plan, that wouldn't have tricked a 12 year old, but the orks took the bait, the largest threat possible in the valley was an entrenched position above a plateau, and the orks took to with the help of 3 bikes. _

_When they arrived, the ATV teams signalled for the teams who were watching from above to begin their plan, 14 charges of high explosives were planted in the path of the horde and 24 in the higher mountains, the charges stopped the orks advance. It stunned them long enough for 400,000 tonnes of snow to come crashing on their heads._

_At the conclusion, it was pretty obvious that orks couldn't tell the difference from a trap to a bunch of sticks… but you don't want to be saying that when they're up close and personal with you._

-Recording end…-

XXXXX

_The green menace! Do not tolerate the ugly as Orks! Marines take aim and don't let them get too close for comfort! -_ Warning for all UCAF marines on standard ork infantry.

The campaign on Tertiary Septimus, the war for nothing more than sand and dirt, the orks had been fighting for the control of the UCAF colony of TS-14 for almost 3 months now, it was impossible to say when they arrived, but from track records it seemed some odd leader of the orks had decided to walk the whole army there.

The orks attacked a UCAF pillar post outpost in the middle of nowhere and followed on from there to the UCAF colony of the South Eastern Continental City of Shiou. The city was placed under siege for almost 3 weeks and by the time the siege ended the orks had been driven into the forests of TS 14, UCAF HIGH COM and Imperial Systems command had ordered for the UCAF Marauders of the Jungle specialists of Callistan and Calliban to begin clearing the forests out for the normalities to return for the colonists.

As of now that was supposed to be an easy task, but dealing with brutish orks in their natural habitat, where you couldn't tell the trees from an ork, was kind of difficult. Clark Smith of the Anomian Military Marauders had not liked this idea one bit.

Being part of the UCAF 2332nd Jungle Marauders should have been an easy task, but not in a million years would you ask a UCAF Jungle Marauder to go into a forest where it was literally teaming with enemies who had greater skill at survival in hostile environments. But then again, the orks were brutish and stupid, well a good number anyway.

But those who knew how to just get through without detection were the most worrying of all; the UCAF had to deal with them attacking the UCAF depots and munitions supply shipments. This was the reason why Clark had been ordered along with the whole UCAF Marauders into this soup of greenery and rocks, to kill an enemy that would be just as deadly as he was.

"God I love this job…" He grunted pulling himself out of the truck.

Clark picked up his combat reflective armour carapace, he didn't need the whole suit, seeing as how hard it would be to know of an enemy nearby, his arms in the air was all he needed and one repeater class carbine, the number of orks was going to be the only problem he'd be facing. He signed to the truck to keep going, he'd be rallying with the other marauders in the jungle near a location overlooking the supposed ork positions.

Shifting his armour, he jumped up and ran…

XXXXX

The Western frontier, the last of the most dangerous fronts, it was the edge of the most brutal combat in the war, 200 planets were being contested over, with 75,000 ships in the region fighting for control of the planets. The covenant had been attacking the planets for over 8 years and now the UCAF was ready to take the fight to them.

The UCAF had brought to an active start new armaments from the Hyperion development departments, the Hyperion development teams had created an Eldar compatible Mobile Suit into the war, the suit was called the Wraith Stalker. A 15m suit with 4 extendable wings, and a beam rifle which also looked much like an eldar shuriken catapult rifle, the suit had 2 beam swords, and a stealth cloak which mimicked the eldar Rangers cloaking gear. But the most distinct feature was the suit's ability to look much like a wraith bone construct.

The UCAF had worked on the idea of bringing the Eldar to the war on an equal plane, and this was the way that they wanted to help, to familiarise the eldar with the UCAF technology, it wasn't hard to get a good grasp upon, and thus the eldar had worked well with the tech. But the eldar did complain that the UCAF made their suits slower, but that was mostly because of the suits being for non-augmented personnel.

The eldar wanted a suit that could live up to certain expectations of the pilots who used the suits, and thus the RND departments had been almost on full tilt to get the MS-EWS01 to level standards. The eldar were soon to use the suit in the field, and the UCAF wanted to make a very good impression for them to build upon the foundations of allies and friends, sure there were times that the UCAF would step on the toes of the eldar lightly, but nothing went sour.

In the testing ship, Evanescence, the eldar teams were being suited into their new MS units, their counterparts were those of the MS-E15 units, the Storm Breakers, the E15 were known as the Zodiac class MS units. The suits were heavy blue and turquoise, the suits only required a single main camera. The suits were made as incredibly versatile unit made to face off against anything that the covenant could challenge them with.

The main pilot was walking from his room; Duo Maxwell had never felt so comfortable being around female pilots, mostly because they tended to pummel him for saying something. But what could he say, he was only 16. He passed down a corridor when he noticed something odd, a man popping out from a closet. He was wearing an odd blue pinstripe suit with a tie and long trench coat. He looked about baffled for a moment.

"Oh, boy titanium hull, UCAF design, standard military for the main navy, hadn't seen one of these in a long time." The spiky brown haired man gibbered.

Duo decided to ask. "Um excuse me?"

The man froze and turned about and smiled. "Hello, just passing through."

"And who might you be?" Due inquired.

The man whipped out a piece of paper, the cover folding back and he showed the pilot who he was, the title stated.  
>"ONI Section: III, ED-0, rank XO."<p>

Duo figured that the man might have been ONI, but he had never seen an ONI operative as active as the man that was now in front of him. He just said. "Okay commander, what might you be doing here, and why were you inside a closet?"

"Oh, long story, just got from running, and thought that there might have been a tap nearby."

"Drink taps are just down the hall sir." Duo said.

"Oh, thanks, well better get going, I guess you better get to your test." He said and jogged off.

"Who the fuck was that?" Duo mouthed to himself.

The pilot went down to his suit in the hangar; he'd just have to figure it out later.

XXXXX

Equestria!

Ante Sanchez didn't know if he was cursed or just very lucky, he had been on the front lines when the battle for a certain star system began, but when that drew to a close, the UCAF was being evacuated from the system, a stray bolt of plasma infused itself into the hull of his ship, the whole frigate was forced to drop out of slip-space, the frigate then proceeded to crash on a mystery planet, to which he had figured out when a strange being came up to him and explained it to him.

Now he was on a planet with thousands of other marines on a world called Equestria, where they were live with ponies, talking ponies, where they could pick up cupcakes and muffins with flexible hooves and strange abilities which seemed to drive the Marauder into a sense of complete madness.

Andre wasn't the only marine who had taken to the idea of living on this planet as insane, the ponies were odd to say the least, there was something like a normality once one got into the hang of things, but talking ponies and magic seemed to freak the UCAF Marauder out. He just hoped that being on the planet didn't wear down his sanity, because that weird pink one kept of trying to party with the marines, he decided that it was better not to ask too many questions about that one though.

He sat on his backside and just laughed to himself, of all the places, he ended up here. Why were ponies invading the whole universe?

XXXXX

Eureka VII

Kara had finally had the long run of her career over, and now she was facing the end of her rope quite literally. Things should have been so simple, the inquisition would have no reason to suspect that she and her sisters had been hiding here, but it seemed that fate would catch up inevitably. A fight with Julia had resulted in her exposure to some of the mortal scum which served the Inquisition of the Imperials, she had tried to lie, trick, kill, but nothing had worked.

And now she was here. "Well at least things could have been worse." She grinned.

"Under orders of the inquisition, you demon, have been found here in the intent of sowing discord and chaos into the population of Eureka VII, you are here by terminated." Lady Inquisitor Lilith Firenze announced.

Kara just smiled and said. "Why don't you just shut up and do it already?"

She didn't wait another moment, a sharp crack resounded and Kara felt herself lift off the ground, her body exited from the window she had been standing at, after that she felt nothing, no warp, no light, no sound, this was absolute death. No immaterium waiting to grab her before absolute oblivion, she just hoped that Julia had managed to escape with her life intact.

She smiled at that thought; it was the first time she had bothered to think about anyone else.

XXXXX

Lady Inquisitor Lilith placed her bolter away, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad to what she had done, but this was how things were in the Inquisition, and she did them well. She walked away from the place where the body had exited; she had to leave the rest of the city for the stormtroopers and search teams of newly trained psychic adepts to go hunting for other demons. She just needed time to gather herself. So much had changed in time, Alex had become so much a part of her retinue and so did that eldar, and that new addition Rey, she couldn't pin what it was, but the child had something wrong with him.

The UCAF was dealing with the tau in the outer fringe colonies; they hoped to keep them contained from spreading any further, especially since they were trying to gain slip-space technology. Rey had been contained and recovered, after his episode with that lying xeno scum that tried to coerce him into following their damned greater good.

Lilith couldn't help but feel tired from this ordeal, the Tau and now this, what else could possibly go wrong?

XXXXX

"What the hell could possibly go wrong? Jezebel, this is why we don't say that out loud." Archer said as he stood with 4 inquisition storm troopers surrounding him. Rose had been recovered during a raid on one of the bars down in this small port city, it seemed that the whole place had hidden demonettes in hiding places, but now Rose had been caught up in all of this.

Jezebel charged her powers with Rose, they needed to save their host or they risked death, but they weren't at full strength. Archer pulled his sword and repeater out, he took aim, he knew these storm trooper classes, they were vicious and tough, and he knew that this was going to end badly if he didn't get them out fast.

He waited for one to make their moves. He unhinged a grenade and prepared.

XXXXX

ONI lieutenant Jorgen worked around the desk observing the recovered pieces of tech from the damaged ruins of the covenant MKV armour, the external exoskeleton was surprisingly resilient, it was also almost all UCAF tech, the covenant had copied a good number of things into creating this suit. It unsettled the officer; he needed to contact high command soon, also about the eldar prisoners that they had recovered.

The Helldiver squad and the Space Marines were busy recovering from their operation, their recovered kin from the covenant was in blue ward, medical intensive treatment, she was psychologically overwritten by the covenant to fight the UCAF it would be a while before the UCAF advents could repair most of the damage, right now they'd leave her alone with Matthias.

Thaea was busy working on helping her tortured kin recover from their ordeal, the covenant had been brutal and blunt on them, they had marks of burns and neural injections, and it wasn't a pretty sight. They had been brutally abused throughout their imprisonment, she was getting them to at least eat, but with the fact that they had been left with the covenant for so long it hadn't helped with their sanity.

From what the reports stated the covenant had managed to acquire the prisoners from some kind of new fleet master, his position was to hunt down the eldar though, and more specifically use the eldar to work against the UCAF. This burned a fury within Thaea, she had never seen such brutality from the elites, and their race was one that didn't seem capable of doing such things? Brutes she could see and understand, but the elites granted their prisoners quick and painless deaths not to waste time.

Whoever this new fleet master was, he had a sadistic streak that bordered on insanity.

XXXXX

Reverence

Taldeer had been getting used to the fact that she had opened her mind to the universe around her, it was so different, but it let her understand why her race had failed so grievously in the past, if they bothered to go anywhere else with their lives, they'd have stumbled on the quantum universe, but with the webway and the warp their own, it seemed so unnecessary to research into these powers.

She could feel the universe around her, it was so wonderful and complex, it was calm and direct, it was understanding though, no other being besides those who could do what she could ever understand this feeling. She turned her attention away; she needed to remember that there were others who needed her in the material universe, one person specifically.

She opened her eyes. "Ishala."

She left the room to head to her child's cradle, she baby so pale, yet possessing such powers, she'd be the first of a new generation to come into this universe, free from Slaanesh's touch, and capable of finding the future of their race. If all things went well the future would be set of humanity and the eldar to accomplish the one thing that they had failed to in their own universe, peace.

XXXXX

(Thanks to all of you… we have now arrived at a cross point of the story, I should have mentioned the pregnancy of Taldeer with Ikage, but that was something I was not sure of doing yet, the whole story was still being fleshed out and I forgot. So yeah, I should explain that part a little later, and this was supposed to tie in with the other stories so yeah it was kind of my bad.

Well let's see, we have the necrons and then the whole Tau faction, not to mention the corruption of the covenant to come and then we have to face the flood and the orks!

How should we go on about this? I have no idea!

If you'd like to suggest anything as a story plot that would be welcome, because I have been getting seriously tied up with things on my end with my exams coming up, so all the chapters in other stories will get shorter and this was written about a month ago, I just couldn't be bothered to finish it all till today.)


End file.
